Jaune Arc's Bizarre Adventure
by NoobSib0t
Summary: A continuation of 'Jaune's World'
1. Chapter 1

He woke to a start, he had that same dream again except that this time it was more vivid and clear than before. He rubbed his head, damn it who were those people? The ones he remembered the most had black hair and another had red hair? Something about all that struck him hard making him feel sad, worried, angry and happy at the same time. Oh well, dream speculation could wait he was up and had a big day ahead of him.

He left his room and went downstairs to the kitchen where his mom was making breakfast. He smiled and hugged her from behind gently nudging the back of her head with his nose. He wanted to make it as meaningful as possible, he was going to arrive at Beacon within the week and would leave the house within the next few hours. After all, this might be the last chance he had to hug his mother in a while. He knew it and she also knew it by the way she held his arms.

He had already said goodbye to his father who was out on business in their quiet hometown of Sino and each of his 7 sisters, all of whom were now leading their own separate lives. He was the last one left, the last one still living in the house he grew up in. This day was without doubt one of the most monumental events in his life, he was starting his own life, leaving the nest and spreading his wings. Or so the expressions went.

He ate in silence across the table from his mother, he couldn't find the right words to say to her. He knew his mother was just as anxious as he was about the whole situation, she made that clear last night, the day before that, and everyday up till this morning. He couldn't really look at her either, he had the same conversations with her for weeks and half of the time it devolved into a pointless argument about his safety, what else he could do and anything else she could think of to try and get him to stay or take up a different career path. She had probably accepted he was leaving for Vale a few weeks ago but none the less kept trying to persuade him against his dream.

"I'll go check my things." he said placing his plate in the sink.

He sighed as he looked over his room. All his things were there, everything he was going to take with him to Beacon was already packed and checked over at least 5 times as of last night. He sighed and lay down on his bed staring into the slopped ceiling of a room immediately connected to the roof. His room, although he had sole ownership for only a few years he was busy saying his silent goodbyes. Minutes passed and he lay on his bed, memories of his life here passing through his head both rapidly and clearly. He would miss his home, so many things happened here. Playing with his sisters, learning common sense from his parents. Practicing dance to music his dad pulled from the attic, his first kiss taken by his older sister's hot -now married- friend and more. After an hour of emotional reminiscing he got up and picked up his bag. He still had plenty of time to spare but for an important event like departing for Beacon he didn't want to miss his boat.

He made his way downstairs to his mother as she just finished washing the plates. "I'll be going now mom."

"Wait." she said "I'll come with you."

"I need to go now." he said softly.

"You still have time. Let me get dressed then we shall go." He sighed at those words.

Better to let his mom get ready than get in another argument and slumped on the couch. He waited 30 minutes before his mother came back and his patients left. He got up and urged his mother to hurry up who in turn made some cheeky comment about him being too pushy. After another 10 minutes she still wasn't ready and he was debating the merits of just leaving on his own and letting his mother catch up to him on her own. Ultimately electing to wait as patiently as he could as the alternative would likely ruin the day with a pointless argument. After another 10 minutes she was finally ready and he ushered her out the door.

The two walked in silence through their hometown of Sino. While it wasn't the largest settlement on Remnant it was within the protection of the kingdom of Vale which allowed it to grow at a much more rapid rate than those outside the kingdom's protections. By the time Jaune was born it was a decent sized settlement with a population of over 15,000 people. Despite it's size people still preferred walking as their primary means of transportation within the town's walled border which usually meant there was almost no cars, wagons or the like. Not like in Vale where walking was preferred for short distances only. It was a change he would have to get used to, one among many. His memories flashed as he passed by each notable location he visited, some good, some bad, and more. He would miss this place, and most of the people here.

His travels to other villages may have been limited by how long his family would stay at the inns but he felt proud to call this place home. That pride is likely what drove him to go to Beacon in the first place. He wanted to be a hero or at the very least be able to defend his village from Grim attacks like the militia and huntsmen who lived here. Maybe he would meet his future wife there, that redhead from his dreams might be there his mind kept telling him. If she was then what would his mother think of her? He looked to his mother who seemed distant and felt a pang of guilt go through him. He was probably breaking his mother's heart doing this but he had to make something of himself and he was sure that he wouldn't be able to here.

He finally reached the boat, a small ferry more suited to river transportation than anything else currently disembarking the passengers stopping at Sino. He looked to his mother and breathed in.

"It's time for me to go now mom." he said with as much confidence as he could muster at the time.

She looked like she was on the verge of tears, not only was her only son leaving the town but he was also going to apply for one of the most dangerous professions on remnant. Given the circumstances he could understand everything she was feeling, so he gave her a loving hug, she returned it squeezing with as much strength as her body could muster.

He leaned in and kissed her birthmark, she giggled slightly. It was a curious thing, it was in the shape of a 5 pointed star and slightly darker in color than the rest of the skin surrounding it. It was placed just below the back of the neck next to the spine of the left side but above the shoulder blades. Everyone save his dad had the same birth mark in the same place. How was a question nobody could really answer, but much to his dismay and that of his sisters it was slightly ticklish and anyone who kissed or touched it made him giggle. Something his mother exploited almost ruthlessly when he and his sisters were growing up.

She looked up at him when they separated "Just remember Jaune. If anything goes wrong, or it's too dangerous don't be a hero, come home. You will always have a home here."

He smiled "Don't worry I'll be fine." he said as the call to board the ship came.

He climbed up the ramp and claimed a place by the edge, taking the opportunity to wave goodbye to his mother as the boat slowly pulled from the dock after the last passengers sat in their seats. No matter what he would remember his mother's face as she waved goodbye. A proud expression that contrasted the worried mood she had for weeks up till this point. He knew when he saw that face that no matter what obstacles he faces, no matter what challenges he met he would be ready to face them head on and overcome them.

/-/

He leaned over the edge of the rail and upturned the contents of his stomach into the river. He believed that he could face any obstacle, as the last of his breakfast fell from his jaw he realized some problems were probably too big for him. As he tried to will himself from getting worse he knew that he wasn't ready to face this challenge. It did serve as 2 valuable lessons for him though; 1. pack medicine and other necessities whenever he got the chance and 2. be more observant so events like this would never happen again.

He groaned who's idea was it to go via boat? Oh right his mother's. His mother had managed to convince him to go via boat to one of Vale's harbors weeks ago with arguments that it would be safer for him and allow him to get to Vale faster so he could leave later than he originally wanted to and spend that time with the used all kinds of tactics and arguments to try and get him to stay short of confiscating his gear and actual sabotage.

He gave up trying to argue with her on those points weeks ago and just accepted that it would be better to go via boat and spend the extra weeks with his family while doing some additional preparation. He regretted letting her convince him of that. A strange thought crept into his mind ' _It was probably better to discover it here where it is relatively safe_.' he groaned and spat some stomach bile into the river, this wasn't " _better_ " by any definition of the word.

He was still puking his guts out and he would still need to walk partway across Vale's territory to get to his hotel for the night. He groaned and slid back into his seat finding that everyone within a 5 seat radius had vanished. He looked around and realized that they didn't 'vanish', they had just found a different seat and a reason to be there. Nobody dared come near him, and even the children on board were restrained to a degree. He groaned as he looked back and leaned over the edge of the boat, sure it was understandable but it still hurt his feelings to be in this situation. He glanced ahead of him and groaned a sad, low tune, they wouldn't reach the dock close to Vale for another several hours. He sighed and knelt by the edge of the boat and began to focus and calming his mind. Soon he was deep in meditation and left the world of Remnant for his own private realm.

The realm had a light pink background with large chunks of shattered glass floating about, various giant clocks in various states of functionality and disrepair floated by but never collided no matter how long he waited. He found his footing and looked down at a very familiar sight. The closed lid of a giant pocket watch made up the floor. It's gold metal plating never reflecting any 'light' from the realm. In the center which he assumed was some kind of button was a table with a short white cloth on it, two chairs and a tea set for 2 as well. Jaune smiled as he made his way to his seat and sat opposed to the only other occupant of the dimension. His mentor, his guide through life, friend and confidant. The man who encouraged and pushed Jaune onward to get in shape and constantly improve himself no matter what. A man he admired and hopped to one day emulate.

 _Dio Brando_.


	2. Chapter 2

Dio smiled as Jaune sat down opposed to him and placed his tea cup down on the little plate that matched the cup in design and color scheme. The cups, plates and pot were a porcelain white like those commonly seen on the frilly dressed dolls that his sisters -and he, much to his later shame- used to play with. They were decorated with a dark blue crisscrossing pattern etched into the outer rims and handles that would pinch his finger if he held it too tightly while slightly scrape his teeth or gently bite into his lower lip when he drank from it. A moment later he remembered the manners Dio taught him and first refilled Dio's cup before filling his to an acceptable level, moving with the practiced grace of someone so used to doing the task.

The teapot was always a bit of a mystery to him and once was a topic for their discussions, no matter how much the duo drank the pot would always be full. The one time Jaune dropped the pot on the floor the contents kept flowing far beyond the amount it should have normally held until Dio picked it up and punished him for poor manners having him clean the floor with his clothing until the golden metal was stainless. Despite the mystery of the magical teapot the one thing that Jaune knew for certain was that the tea in it would always suit his mood by constantly changing in taste, sweetness, temperature and even color, becoming bitter when he was angry or sweet when he was happy. He always felt that it was an unfair advantage Dio had over him as with this Dio could practically tell how Jaune was feeling quite literally with a sip of tea while he in turn always struggled to read Dio's mood much to the man's amusement. Dio did warn him however that other people could read his mood just as easily if he wasn't careful, the tea allegory that Dio used to explain that to him when he was a child just helped him to better understand this.

"How did your farewells go Jaune?" Dio casually asked.

"Very well. Despite how mom is I think that she was happy to see me go in a strange way. I just wish I could have done it in a way that wouldn't have cause her so much grief." Jaune remarked sipping his tea. He looked at it with a quizzical look as it tasted both foul like the vomit from earlier and sweet like the cakes that he and his sisters loved so much. He forced a straight face with a slight smile a moment later as he took note of Dio's smile.

"She loves you and cares for you deeply. It is only natural for her to feel some grief seeing you leave her." Dio spoke, his smile still present even as he sipped the oddly bitter-sweet tea.

"Although I do have some concerns." Jaune said placing his tea cup gently on the plate so it wouldn't disturb his guest.

Dio's smile vanished at that comment "What do you mean? You have always told me that your dream was to become a hunter of Grimm and now that you are embarking on your journey you should feel ecstatic. Well more ecstatic." he said smiling slightly while the tea in his cup shifted as his hand twitched. Jaune took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Dio always told him to hide his true feeling behind a false expression or failing that to never let anyone know how intensely he felt, as it can be used against him. However given his concerns and the fact that Dio could easily tell his mood he hopped he would let it slide this one time.

"Yes. I am ecstatic. And I honestly do think that this is one of the happiest moments in my life, but I am concerned over my family. I am going to Beacon Academy, one of the top schools for hunters in Remnant to train for what is perhaps one of the most dangerous professions there is. And knowing that I can't help but wonder what my mom, dad and each of my sisters are probably going through right now. They say that they are fine with it or that they will accept it in time, but with each phone call from an unknown number they are probably going to assume the worst, like I had been killed or that something worse has happened to me."

He looked down at his left hand, the one that would hold his shield and protect him from harm. "I know I have done some preparation for this, but just thinking of what might happen makes me scared." he brought both hands together over his lap and stared down at them "Will my strength be enough? Will I be able to match or even come close to the expectations of Beacon? Will I be able to make a difference and maybe save the people I will come to care about in the future? It's this and so much more that in all honesty makes me question if this was such a good idea in the first place."

He heard the slight sound of metal scrapping metal then a few foot steps before a finger placed itself under his chin willing him to look up. Dio shook his head slightly as his gaze practically pierced through to Jaune's soul "Jaune to have concerns is understandable, but tell me. What have I, Dio, always told you about doubt?"

Jaune gave a weak smile "Never have any. If you feel concerned check if there is something you can do and when possible eliminate the problem before it destroys you."

Dio smiled again and took his seat opposed to him, taking up his tea cup. "That is correct Jaune." he spoke drinking his tea cup empty and placing it gently on the porcelain plate his smile still present. Jaune smiled as he refilled Dio's cup "What would you suggest in this situation Dio? What would you do?"

Dio took his cup again and sniffed it, the heat vapors ticking his nose "Now Jaune. If all the answers were given to you, how would you ever improve? What do you think you can do?"

Jaune smiled as he took up his cup, Dio never answered that question for him, instead he always made Jaune answer for him and he would either agree or disagree with it "I have been lead to believe that Beacon has excellent training facilities and capable teachers whom I can ask to help me. And with an abundance of students I can likely find one with similar equipment to mine and also ask them how they fight or get a practice match or maybe train with them. If nothing else I can practice on my own in the nearby contested land and improve through experience or I could even get new equipment and learn how to use that effectively. If one of these options works then I think I should be good."

"Very good Jaune. You have covered all possibilities currently available to you." Dio spoke before sipping his tea. "It appears that you have reached your destination. Finish your tea and go."

Jaune nodded, drinking his tea in one go and gently placing it on his plate, relishing the wonderful taste. As he got up he wishing for the umpteenth time that the chairs wouldn't make that sound whenever either of them got up. He knew that it was bad manners and even though the chairs couldn't be lifted for any reason -both he and Dio trying at several occasions- it forced them to push the chairs back in order to get up from the table. Although Dio had never criticized him for it when he realized that the chairs were impossible to lift, it was still bad manners. As Jaune walked he focused and calmed his mind and soon his body began involuntarily kneeling.

He got up from his kneeling position as the real world collided with his senses. True to Dio's word the had boat had pulled up to the docks and passengers began to disembark. Within minutes Jaune exited the boat and began making his way to his hotel.

As he walked through the town of _Mythbay_ he opened his map, his route marked in bright red highlighter along with some basic information on each of the towns and villages he would need to pass through before he entered the main city of Vale and pinned cards that had some basic tourist information. "Ok I am ahead of schedule by several hours." He folded his map and dodged a lamp post. Taking a moment to look around, it was still evening and unless all the shops had closed early he could get some food before nightfall. Despite being built around it's ferry docks Mythbay had a reputation for serving good fish and salad dishes made from locally farmed vegetables and freshly caught river trout, and while the local economy relied on exporting these things and the tolls from the ferries it still had the ability to grow as it did.

' _Apparently the fish is that good'_. Jaune mused before noticing something else. There was tension in the air.

Another quick glance showed him that there was an unusually large presence of armed people here, a militia as recognizable by the cheap weapons and distinct lack of quality armor. He frowned as he made his way to his hotel, something was going on here. This deep within Vale's territory should mean that the town was relatively safe and as Mythbay was hardly a frontier town this many militia personnel shouldn't be warranted, unless they were going to be attacked by a swarm of Grimm soon. That didn't make sense, if the people knew that a swarm of Grimm was coming then they would be working on barricades or seeking the local huntsmen and huntresses. Unless of course they hadn't arrived yet and the swarm was days away. And if the swarm was days away and huntsmen were coming then this wasn't going to be his problem. After all he would be at the gates of Vale's city by then and as much as it saddened him, staying to help these people was going to be more a liability to him as it meant that he would likely miss the important entry exam Beacon used to filter out it's candidates.

He collapsed on his bed in his hotel room not bothering to change out of his clothing and armor, all the stores were closed, with him arriving in town just as they closed for the day. He sighed and opened up a snack bar, sure he wouldn't go to bed hungry but it still sucked that he couldn't taste the town's trout dish. He opened up his map and looked at it again then signed again as he closed it. Tomorrow he would have to walk 10 miles to the next town and another 14 to get to the next one if he wanted to get ahead of his schedule. If he got up early then he could walk that distance in 8 hours, 6 if he walked briskly. After that it was another 163 miles to Vale's gates then Beacon and his adventures would begin. He rolled over and stared at the ceiling, the fan's rotation looked almost like the hands of a clock spinning as time marched onward, not stopping, not reversing, but always foreword, and for some reason it was oddly hypnotic and in a bizarre way it seemed appropriate.

 _"Please you have to stop her!"_ a voice yelled as the ceiling fan suddenly froze.

He woke with a start and sat-up, he didn't even realize he had fallen asleep while watching the ceiling fan. He put his hand up to his forehead. A voice, it sounded like his, but if so who was he begging to? He knew that it was familiar somehow, the name just eluded him. He wanted to say ' _Winter'_ for some reason. He sighed, it was truly bizarre. His head perked up as he heard something from outside his room into the streets below. There shouldn't be any commotion going on this late and the local festival was still months away. The realization hit him like a lightning bolt, the _Grimm swarm_ had arrived _early_!

He dashed to the door grabbing his shield which also was a scabbard that held his sword _Crocea Mors_. He practically flew down the stairs and body slammed through the front door drawing the blade in his right hand and expanding his sheath into it's shield form in his other hand. He looked around and oddly enough didn't see any Grimm. Instead he saw people, fighting other people. The _militia_ were fighting _bandits_! He couldn't believe it, this deep in Vale's interior there shouldn't be bandits, they were all in the contested lands preying on the settlements there. For them to be in-

Something triggered in him. A reflex, instinct, whatever it was it saved his life on more occasions than he could remember while he temporarily lacked control whenever it happened he wouldn't trade it for anything else, it guaranteed he wouldn't be taken by surprise and react first to any situation.

" **MUDA!** " he yelled as he jumped backwards swinging his blade. The pommel connected with something hard and a moment later he saw what it was. A fearsome looking Grimm mask with 4, now 3 eye slits. The 4th being destroyed revealing part of a pale face belonging to a raven haired woman in a shallow cut black dress, red gauntlets and a giant scabbard that was too short and thick for the Katina blade she was using. She recoiled several steps and swung her blade harmlessly foreword, even with it's incredible length it still fell a foot short of him. She growled and held the blade foreword in a typical sword stance while she kept the other on her scabbard. Whomever this _bandit_ was she intended to murder him. He gulped as he brought his own sword and shield up in a ready position, something telling him that he was in deep trouble.

/===== _To be Continued_ =====/

 **AN: I, Noob, have spend the last week binge watching Jojo's Bizarre Adventure and reading the manga in an attempt to do Lord Dio justice in this fic and understand how he might interact with Jaune and how their relationship might develop over the course of several years. In any case leave reviews to tell me if I have pleased Lord Dio and done the portrayal justice. Tune in next time as Jaune Arc faces off against Raven Branwen.**


	3. Chapter 3

_AN; Hey all, I have edited the chapter in an effort to make it a little more readable, if you'e still having trouble reading it then there is little I can do for you._

 _/=====================================================================================================/_

Jaune gulped as he readied himself in front of the katana wielding bandit who faced him. He forced a neutral expression out of habit while his mind screamed how much trouble he was in. His instincts kicked into overdrive as her blade blurred diagonally towards him. He flew several feet backwards and fell on his back, he glanced at his shield and noticed a deep indentation on it, but brought it back up as she came at him again in an overhead strike that would have killed him if something hadn't kicked in at the last second propelling him between the ladies legs as she decimated the pavement he was previously lying on and 10 square meters around it. He skidded a few feet then bounced to his feet bringing himself into a ready position facing her as quickly as he could.

She stood there, her expression still unreadable behind her partially broken mask and slowly turned to him with the swagger of a predator toying with it's prey. Analysing him, assessing him and no doubt picking which weakness in his poor excuse for a defence to exploit. If he had any hope of winning, nay surviving, he would need to use all the tricks in his book.

"Black lace thongs don't really suit you." He casually said. She didn't respond. "Or is it that your ass is so fat it causes your panties to fold in on themselves?" Again she didn't respond, only finish turning.

' _Ok so she is calm and super composed, and clearly doesn't think much of me at all_.' he watched as she causally brought up her blade like it was just another day for her. ' _She's probably just going to kill me then forget about me almost instantly as just another blond man she murdered_.' She lunged at him with almost legendary speed he reflexively brought his shield up only for her blade to skim off the top and make it's way to his throat. He pushed with his shield upwards and the blade scrapped his forehead, and swung his sword in an upward diagonal arc toward her midriff.

She dodged backwards and spun to his right as his sword finished it's arc leaving his back exposed to her. Jaune screamed as her blade cut a large chunk of aura away and left a rift in his back plate. He turned around as she spun swinging her katana horizontally. His reflex kicked in again, he screamed " **MUDA!** " as his right leg kicked outwards connecting with the woman knocking her a foot backwards her defences compromised.

' _NOW!_ ' his mind screamed and he hefted his sword above his left shoulder and made a diagonal swing downwards, her blade intercepting it and deflecting it to his left. She riposted and swung her blade to his midsection. He forced his shield down just in time to stop the blade and forced his sword onto it. The blade of her katana snapped a second later with the force he put on it causing his sword to back to his right side tearing though his jeans in the process.

He gave a clumsy follow up swing that she had of course easily dodged with her great speed. He watched her as she stood up and looked at her broken sword, only 6 inches of sharp edge remained that mask still hiding her expression, oddly enough his surrounding somehow became more colourful as if some of it was drained then came rushing back.

"Give up! You're bladeless!" He yelled ' _Real smooth Jaune. Real smoooooth._ ' his mind taunted.

She looked at him and with a click the broken blade detached itself from the hilt and she slammed it into the scabbard. The thick part rotated a couple times and this time she drew another identical blade from it, it expanded to twice it's length in a split second and she readied herself as if nothing happened.

"OH COME ON!" Jaune yelled as the lady lunged at him.

Color faded as he made a clumsy parry and the blade bounced off _Crocea Mors_ , she made another swing form a different direction and he blocked it with his shield, he kept parrying and blocking her strikes, the adrenaline or instinct must have kicked his reflexes into overdrive as he managed to block every strike, either out of desperation or fear of being cut down for what felt like minutes, then hours, stopping only when he suddenly saw an opportunity to strike. He deflected a strike with his shield then lunged foreword smashing it into her mask causing it to break further while she recoiled.

Half of her mask broke off and fell to the ground revealing enough of her face for him to see. She had pale but fair skin, piercing red eyes that stared into his very soul, but had slight age lines under them that betrayed her age to him. She was beautiful in a very dangerous and sexy way and he would probably fantasize about her if she didn't kill him in the next few minutes. What troubled him was that her expression told him that this fight was more an annoyance than anything else. He groaned internally as his muscled burned with a hellish passion while she wasn't even sweating.

"Time for my ultimate plan." he said with a smile. That caught her attention as her gaze sharpened and focused on him. "One I guarantee you cannot beat." he said with more confidence than he thought possible. For the first time she smiled as she readied herself for combat, he could see her muscles tense up meaning she was going to use all her strength for this, but that didn't matter as it was her speed that worried him, how quick would she be to react to him. Despite how tired he was, he felt confident he would see her coming and however she approached him, he would be ready. He readied his shield, lifted his sword and charged, the other direction probably screaming like a girl.

He looked over his shoulder and focused his vision on her as he ran, the woman's gaze was hollow, the smile gone, her shoulders slumped as he got further from her and her muscles relaxed. ' _YES! My plan is working wonderfully!_ ' then he saw something that made his throat go dry. Something materialized from her as she brought her sword up, it looked like hundreds of dangling parts made from metallic lines each shining their own metallic color or shade but vanished when she swung her blade down some kind of worm hole or portal appearing in it's wake. ' _Oh thank Dio she's leaving._ ' he thought as she stepped through it.

As he turned foreword he saw her in front of him swinging her katana at neck level. He reflexively brought his shield up and it slammed into his own face causing him to fall foreword while bending over backwards as the high impact of her katana and the low momentum of his body caused him to flip through the air, he did manage to kick himself off her curiously discoloured shoulder and land relatively safe several feet from her through a shop's window, he landed hard on a table and wished he hadn't. It was a nice table and now everything but it's legs were little more than splinters.

He groaned as the door smashed open and a pair of boots leading up to the luscious legs of the middle aged beauty took up his vision. He looked up to her disappointed face as she watched him as though he were an insect about to be crushed. The metaphor seemed appropriate as she slammed her foot onto his chest and brought her half-way collapsed blade upward in a stabbing position.

"Was that a _stand_ I saw you use back there?" She hesitated and he continued "I saw a metal form materialize out of you when you summoned the portal. Is that it's ability?"

She smirked "So you can see them?" The words came out like silk, far too silky than a bandit's had any right to be. "No matter." She thrusted her blade downward towards his heart.

/=====================================================================================================/

 **Stand name: ?**

 **Destructive power; ?**

 **Speed; ?**

 **Range; ?**

 **Durability/staying; ?**

 **Precision; ?**

 **Development potential/Learning; ?**

 **User: Raven Branwen**

 **Abilities: Uncertain**

/=====================================================================================================/

His adrenaline must have kicked in hard at that point because she moved a lot _slower_ than she ought to have and his strength practically _quadrupled_ as he pushed her oddly discolored boot off his chest throwing her off balance. He saw it in slow motion as a surprised expression danced across her face and her arms involuntarily swung out in differing directions in an instinctive effort to grab onto something before she fell and possibly hurt herself. He swung his fist upwards and connected with her crotch, a foul and dirty move by any honorable standards but against a bandit about to murder him he would take dishonor over death any day and was rewarded when he heard part of her pelvis pop in the typical way his joints might when he cracked his knuckles or stretched his neck. She screamed as her hands came down to her crotch, seeing the opportunity he jumped up and grabbed a leg from the broken table with his left hand and swung with all his strength, he saw her eyes slowly widen as she brought her sword up to late. "Muda!" he yelled as it connected with her temple knocking her to the side.

"Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda!" he cried over and over as he wailed on her with _Crocea Mors_ in his right hand and the _table leg_ and shield in the other. She only managed to block half of the strikes before she cut through the table leg. " **MUDA!** " he roared as his foot come out and landed in her stomach while she blocked an overhead strike. She coughed hoarsely as her head collided with the broken window frame and slumped over. He stopped and dropped the useless table leg to the ground as he panted not noticing the color returning to the world around him. He did it, he had beaten her! He turned around and made for the remains of the shop's front door, pride swelling in his chest. Of course he beat her, what was a mere bandit to an actual huntsmen -in training- who worked to protect people?

"OH GEEZ!" he yelled as something red swung where he was just a split second ago destroying the door frame and collapsing part of the shop on it, rendering it inaccessible. He looked back and saw the woman force herself to her feet, a snarl present. Thankfully _Dio_ had tutored him about facial expression and how to read them to the point where reading them became second nature to him. The lady's face had focused eyes, a toothy snarl, with the majority of the muscles around her mouth, eyes and nose visibly tense as her brow narrowed with the ends pulled up almost to her hairline. He was certain, this woman wasn't just angry, she was practically in a frenzied state brought on by the pain and humiliation of being defeated so sudden and practically effortlessly just as she was about to have what was supposed to be an easy victory, her pride and ego demanding that she not let this stand.

She yelled a cry of primal hate as she swung at him. It lacked any of the grace or precision a trained swords-woman would have and instead was replaced by the savage swing of a berserker trying to kill her enemy at all costs. He brought his shield up and gasped as her katana blade sheared through it thankfully several centimeters above his arm and jumped back just as she made a follow up swing that ripped through the wall towards him. He flipped over the store counter the sound of plates and other kitchenware sold here rattling as he collided with the floor.

She leapt over a second later and swung at him again in a downward strike. Color again fading and she visibly slowed, seeing the opportunity he launched himself foreword his head colliding with her nose while his shoulder landed on her sternum pushing her back and disrupting the strike causing the pommel to slam with less power into his side. Before she could react again he brought up a kitchen plate in each hand and slammed them into the sides of her head, before kicking her backwards into the wall. If his mother could see him now she would be disappointed, but given the circumstances he figured that she would forgive him. He countered her next strike with a teapot to the face, shattering it and silently wishing that hot liquid spilled out to distract or damage her further before she slumped onto the floor.

He landed softly on the pavement outside as he climbed out the window. Any and all sounds of combat were gone now oddly enough there didn't seem to be anyone in sight although he could faintly hear voices in the distance. He elected to report the lady to the local militia, they could deal with her while he continued to Vale and as an aspiring huntsmen he had done his duty to make sure the town was bandit free before he returned to bed.

As he rounded the corner his heart throbbing, muscles burning and very weirdly tired he noticed 4 oddly dressed people hovering over a large group of tied or otherwise restrained prisoners. He ducked into an alleyway to eavesdrop on them, they could be militia, but at the same time they could also have been bandits. Although it didn't make sense for bandits to wait around like that unless they were waiting for something. He decided to risk it and casually strode up to them

"Hey you guys militia?" he asked. If they were then they would have most likely made note of him coming into town last evening sometime before the bandit attack and likely not attack him.

"Militia?" the lead one asked then responded "Ha, he, no." before pointing his pistol at Jaune's face and pulling the trigger.

Despite the fading color all around him, all Jaune could focus on was the dust round approaching his face curiously slower than it should have. He moved his head to the side and it grazed his cheekbone and he swung _Crocea Mors_ to the bandit's mid section. The bandit jumped back just in time and 2 more moved to support him 1 swinging at Jaune's head from the right, another moving for Jaune's feet from the left. He awkwardly parried both and kicked the left one in the knee. A third bandit coming for a stab at Jaune's face as his friend fell to 1 knee. He twisted his shield forcing the blade and subsequent bandit on his left where the others were and consequently the last one was moving at him from having little choice as the clump of prisoners were to his right.

3 blades came at him and he stopped them with his sword, to his surprise they locked around his sword and twisted forcing him to let go of his sword or loose balance, something which in this fight could have cost him his life. As he recoiled another sword entered his guard, forcing him to dodge to the right and unfortunately collapse his shield into it's sheath form and fly off his forearm as the edge pressed the button used to switch between the 2 forms leaving him practically defenceless.

"Sorry kid." the lead bandit called as he and his 3 blade wielding companions lunged at Jaune.

" **MUDA!** " Jaune roared as instinct took over again, his fist connecting with lead bandit's face sending him spinning almost a foot backwards. "Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! **MUDA**!" Jaune yelled as his body moved without instruction pummelling the other 3 into submission and sending them all flying with a final strike that knocked all 3 of them out simultaneously. A smile along with the feeling of a strange savagery and superiority blossoming through his body before control, fear and shock over what just happened returned to him.

He paused to look at his shaking hands. That had never happened before. His instincts would _occasionally_ make him strike out at opponents sure, and even if Dio's boxing lessons were so deeply ingrained into his muscle memory, it had never done anything like that. What frightened him the most however was how he felt immediately after that. Did he subconsciously enjoy hurting people? Was he a monster?

Speculation could wait however as the lead bandit got back up, both pissed off and eager for blood. He lunged weakly at Jaune who avoided the strike, grabbed the man by the back of the neck and threw him in the direction of the shop he came from not realizing the red blur that sliced the man diagonally in half from hip to shoulder. In slow motion it looked like an execution scene from a horror movie that traumatized him as a child. He gasped realising that the blade was coming to him still and the unfortunate man was just in the way. His reflexes kicked in again as he ducked under the blade and jumped towards his gear, grabbing both and rolling away and onto his feet just as the spot he was practically exploded a second later. To his shock it was the bandit woman from earlier, but he defeated her, she should have be-

His shield suffered more as he blocked her next strike. Peeking over his shield and began his analysis of her expression and body language. She had a curious calmness to her face despite the furrowed brow. She was positioned in a way that would allow her to react to anything that he could do, her stance suggesting that she was going to ignore all but him. Her focused eyes promising to deliver retribution at any cost. He didn't want to receive that retribution so he pushed his legs as hard as they could go toward any sign of safety at the first chance he got. He ran as fast as he could for a time the lady not using her ability to teleport instead electing to chase him as he was practically within reach of her weapon at almost all times when he realized something. He was approaching a familiar road with familiar buildings and sights. A plan suddenly formed in his mind. It was stupid, a long shot but it was the best he had.

He spun on his heels and blocked the katana with his shield, then a second strike and a third before jumping backwards and noting the damage to his shield. At it's current state is was almost useless to him, _almost_. He pulled _Crocea Mors_ to his side as he blocked a strike to his right the metal sparking as the lady put more effort into trying to cut through his defenses. He threw his left arm backwards and swung foreword, she ducked as his fist sailed harmlessly over her and proceeded to flip him over onto his back. He blocked her finishing strike with his sword, his very damaged shield gone from sight.

More color faded as Jaune swung his foot out catching her by the back of her left knee forcing her down as he let go of his sword grabbing her right hand with his left locking the hilt in place and her throat with his right. She gasped at the suddenness of this move and tried to pull away inadvertently pulling him to his feet as she got up from her kneeling position, she grabbed his throat with her left hand baring her teeth as she squeezed.

He fumbled and managed to click her katana blade out of it's hilt and toss it to the side. She took the opportunity to kick him in the groin, Jaune squealed and let go of her throat and reached down for her leg as he started bending foreword. She twisted her hilt around to resheath it and lock another blade into place as something hard landed on top of her head, the distraction causing her to slam the hilt into Jaune's back forcing him to his knees and putting his body in between her and her supply of telescopic katana blades. She looked up and saw it was one of the cities street lamps, Jaune's shield lodged into the base causing it to fall over and onto her.

"Now!" She heard him yell out followed by the sound of mass gunfire.

She put her arms up defensively. She growled as she took notice of the previously captured militia that had not only freed an rearmed themselves but had took up positions surrounding her, without her blades to defend herself properly and the boy keeping her in one place she was an easy target even if they were hitting her less than half of the time, what they lacked in accuracy they made up in enthusiasm and determination. This was too much, she had to get away or she would likely die or worse be captured.

She focused her will and despite the pain her stand _The Black Keys_ materialized next to her. It resembled a metallic ball made of hundreds upon hundreds of keys all were various dark metallic colors, each had unique designs for each location she had visited. She willed the first key she saw to extend and leave the bundle, it didn't matter which one. It froze in midair a foot away from her and turned, a wormhole suddenly appearing in it's place.

She made a move for it and kneed the boy as hard as she could, after all she just needed to get away. He let go and reached out for her as she sailed toward the safety of the wormhole. She smiled, he was a worthy opponent if he was forcing her to retreat like his, a little unrefined but he could benefit her tribe nicely. He smiled back at her as his hand slowly got further from her despite their relative close proximity and she realized that he was moving to attack her, he was going for her stand _directly_! She couldn't will it out of existence unless she wished to close the portal prematurely and trap herself here, but if the boy couldn't touch her stand then the damned thing would do what it always did and follow her in the wormholes and ensure they closed behind her.

She cried a denial as a smug smile spread across his face and he wrapped his hand around as much of _The Black Keys_ as he could and crushed them with a ghostly white aura that wrapped around his hand. Raven's eye twitched as she felt a popping sensation in her head. Despite her lack of proper knowledge of the human brain she knew that the popping originated from where scientists believed that memory was stored, his smug face burning itself in her mind as she flew through the worm hole and away from him.

Raven landed hard with a pant, she alone was on a cliff overlooking the ocean, her eyes twitching furiously and her body failing to respond to most of her commands. She growled as she slid back onto the soft grass. She willed herself not to have a seizure and instead focused what was left of her aura on recovery. He had damaged her stand, he hurt her in ways few have ever done so. He had beaten her, he destroyed much of her memory of the places she had visited and probably caused some brain damage in the process all in the time it took her to jump to safety. This shouldn't have happened, yes her stand was weak and she only materialized it when she needed a quick and safe mode of transportation, but despite her martial prowess and strength she was still beaten by a child old enough to be her son.

She groaned as she fell again, she grew arrogant, her superior skills and strength allowed a delusion of invincibility to take root in her head and now she was paying the price for it. It was more luck than strength that allowed her to survive the encounter. If any of her enemies found her now she would be incapable of defending herself, she was weak, she would die if something attacked her as per the rules of her philosophy.

She growled as her face met the dirt again and his smug smile flashed in her mind, he could _see_ stands, he could _interact_ with stands, he could use it's ability and attack her stand directly with only _minimal_ materialization, if he even needed to materialize it at all. She only saw the ghostly while aura around his hand, nowhere near enough to even begin guessing what kind of stand it was. He was foolish however in revealing it's ability to her. It made him move at ridiculous speeds, no that was wrong, his apparel and hair didn't move with the same motions as someone moving at high speeds, she would know. His stand's ability didn't make _him_ fast, it made _everything else_ _ **slow**_.

/=== _Raven Branwen temporarily retired_ ===/

/=====================================================================================================/

 **Stand name: The Black Keys**

 **Destructive power; N/A**

 **Speed; E**

 **Range; A**

 **Durability/staying; E**

 **Precision; A**

 **Development potential/Learning; A**

 **User: Raven Branwen**

 **Abilities: Creates a wormhole to any location of Raven Branwen's choosing that she has visited before. This method of travel is both safe to use and efficient for her. However it seems the stand possesses no offensive capabilities.**

/=====================================================================================================/

 **AN; *Gasp* The weak, poorly trained and inexperienced Jaune Arc defeated Raven Branwen; a strong, highly trained and experienced huntress? What a bizarre turn of events! And to be fair if you were forced to fight an opponent better than you in every way, you probably would do much of what Jaune did in your own attempt to win. More to come next time on Jaune Arc's Bizarre adventure.**


	4. Chapter 4

_Its Friday and you know what that means! A new chapter of Jaune Arc's Bizarre adventure is here for your reading pleasure. Enjoy._

 _/=====================================================================================================/_

Jaune felt his face and chest plate scrape against the pavement as he landed, the wormhole had closed and the bandit lady got away. However he was alive and more importantly it seemed that the town of _Mythbay_ was bandit free as militia men and woman cheered their victory. He pushed himself to his feet and patted himself down, nearly collapsing again as he did. He felt his heart pounding in his chest as a strange euphoria washed over him. Maybe it was fact that he had defeated an obviously dangerous opponent or the ecstatic expressions and body language of the militia as they celebrated causing him to get swept up in the vibe and become as happy as they felt despite how tired and how shocked he felt. It was incredible.

He blinked as he found himself standing in his private realm. How did he get here when he didn't will himself to?

"Jaune I did not expect you so soon." He turned around to see the table with the tea set and Dio looking at him, a look of curious surprise or boredom on his face. Jaune tried to suppress his surprise and confusion as he awkwardly sat down in his chair.

"You seem troubled what is it?" Dio asked more out of politeness than any actual interest or so Jaune gleamed from how bored Dio looked and the way he leaned back into his chair his jaw planted lazily on his fist. Jaune sighed and began recounting the events since his last visit remembering the etiquette Dio taught him, it never sat well with him if Jaune didn't adhere to it. By the end of it Dio had a curious look of amusement, either from the story of if he was remembering something just as entertaining. Jaune could never tell with his mentor.

"It appears that you have had an eventful night Jaune." Dio finally spoke.

"Yes. 'Eventful' is one way to describe it. Although I find it troubling that a bandit such as her would have such a weak stand." Jaune said sipping his odd tasting tea.

"Every stand has it's strengths and weaknesses." Dio continued "Every stand user must contend with and adapt to them accordingly if they hope to survive. This woman you describe appears to have adapted very well to her stand's abilities. It was weak and as a result she made herself strong and skilled as to not depend on it. It transported her to where she desired, meaning that she did not need anything other than a melee weapon to fight."

His face became deathly serious as he looked deep into Jaune's eyes "The woman had made the mistake of underestimating her opponent, you, Jaune. She had gambled with her ability to escape safely and lost. If you wish to live long enough to exceed her in age then you must not make the same mistakes she did. It was not because of her stand that she had lost to you. It was her stupidity in the moment."

"I-, I understand. I will not make the same mistakes she had." Jaune responded, the implications kicking in.

Dio smiled at Jaune effectively cheering him up "You have done well in achieving your victory. Despite her obvious failure, you had the wisdom and the quick thinking needed to exploit it. You should be proud Jaune."

Jaune smiled with a rarely felt happiness before he could suppress it to an acceptable level and didn't wince as Dio's expression turned sour as he drank his tea. Somehow it felt that it wasn't he Dio was upset with, thankfully.

Curious Jaune focused his vision on Dio analyzing his expressions and body language as much as possible, it was a chink in the man's armor and a chance, however small to analyse his mentor's expressions. Not the sample expressions and poses his mentor would use to educate him in the past or the controlled expressions he would use during their conversations, but what the man was _actually_ feeling and by extension thinking.

Dio stared off to the right his jaw resting on his left fist as was curiously laid back in his slight left leaning. It might have looked like he was relaxing but that didn't seem right. His brow was also furrowed as he stared into the nothingness of their realm, the look in his eyes a little too sharp for simple daydreaming. A moment later Dio's eye met his and the man smiled, his expression returning to a controlled one preventing Jaune from completing his analysis. He tried his best to cover up his impromptu analysis with a neutral smile but felt that the rest of his face probably betrayed his thoughts.

"It is now morning Jaune. You must return to your body if you are to continue your journey, but do not forget the warning that I, Dio, have given you." Dio said before drinking his tea.

As Jaune got up and prepared to leave he turned around 1 last time and asked "Before I go I have to ask, when I fought her everything seemed to slow down, but when it did some color would fade from my vision. Could that mean _my stand_ is manifesting itself somehow?"

Dio gave him a smile "It is possible Jaune. It however could also be _nothing_." Jaune sighed, it was strange that he could see and apparently interact with stands but not have his own manifest by now. Although if Dio's past lessons on the matter were any indicator it might have been an automatic one that acted unconsciously and independently of him. Such things he could ponder on his way to Vale.

/-/

As Jaune woke to the real world the first thing he noticed was that he was in the bed of a clinic. Thankfully it appeared to be as clean and proper as the one back home, shortly after he woke a doctor came to explain that he had lost consciousness shortly after the battle caused by physical exhaustion and rapid aura drain than any actual injury and most bizarrely he remained standing, so nobody noticed that he was unconscious until someone tried to take him to a tavern to celebrate.

Once he was dressed and discharged he went back to his hotel to collect his things and went to a local cafe for breakfast. It was a small place with a kitchen and several tables and chairs, architecturally designed to allow the morning light to brighten up the entire place and display itself like a billboard advertisement during the evening when the daylight started fading. There he met a man named Odis and his dog also named Odis, both of whom were interesting enough to keep him from leaving Mythbay until lunch time.

Over the course of their conversation he learned that Odis made his living transporting goods and other products to and from towns like Mythbay to Vale's gates apparently loving his job very much as evidenced by his happy expressions and speech patterns. Seeing as he was behind schedule Jaune offered to help Odis with the loading and unloading of the products in exchange for transportation to the next town along his planned pathway. To his surprise Odis offered to take him straight to Vale instead claiming that he had to get there quickly anyway. Jaune could understand, even in boxes of ice freshly caught river trout and similar foods could apparently still go bad quickly, or so Odis claimed.

The vehicle that Odis used certainly looked the part of a well used and lovingly maintained transport vehicle. It was a red pick-up truck whose make and model he couldn't identify, with large thick wheels that would look more at home on a heavy Atlas military vehicle, however given the not so smooth dirt paths that made up Vale's interior territories he could understand why they would be preferred. Even though he couldn't see the engine he had to guess that it was extremely powerful to move a vehicle like Odis' truck when it was fully loaded.

As Odis was tightening the webbing that secured Mythbay's products Jaune found himself being ambushed by some of the residents offering their thanks and gifts for his journey. Most of the gifts were fresh vegetables and other food stuff like a cooked river trout wrapped in tin foil, tree sap Jam, bread and more, but they also gave him a new pair of pants to replace the one he had tore in his fight last night. All of which were unceremoniously stuffed into his travel pack with the rest of his belongings without his consent, he protested but was met with bizarre comments.

He decided to cut the protest short as Odis honked his horn and told him to get in the back of his truck as the front was apparently reserved for him and the dog, and as the man was doing him a huge favor he didn't feel like arguing. As Odis pulled out of the town Jaune waved goodbye to the people of Mythbay and tried to get comfortable as he wedged himself between the edge of the truck and the various boxes tied down by webbing as the van started going faster. As he looked to the sky a strange pride swelled in his chest, he had gotten a taste of some of the more rewarding aspects of his chosen career and it just fueled his motivation and will to continue even further.

/-/

Jaune's hands had become white from griping the edges of the back of the pick-up truck for several hours as his psychotic driver accelerated towards Vale at speeds that would have been acceptable on a race track, the open sky or even an empty and flat highway with no law enforcement, but along the twisting, bumpy and not at all smooth road they were taking it was all he could to not to slam his face into the boxes of product and/or fly off the edge of the truck at over 200 or 300 miles per hour. An exaggeration possibly, but he felt it was appropriate given how the laws of physics would react to him flying uncontrolled through a dense forest at the speed they were going. Both an experiment and lesson he did not want today.

"Almost there!" his psychotic driver yelled over the wind currents, a curious thump and the noise the crazy engine, likely packed with all kinds of illegal Atlas Technology based modifications made.

"OH SWEET DIO! Jaune yelled as a beowolf toppled over the roof and onto him before it began disintegrating.

"This next part gets interesting!" Jaune heard Odis yell before his arms slipped and the raw inertia of the sudden speed boost slammed him painfully to the metal frame of the truck, a loud jet engine like noise probably deafening him for life.

The ground became even more rough than normal with each bump sending high magnitude seismic activity through his body and causing him to spew unintelligible protests, after a while he realized he could no longer see the trees of the forests or the rocky trail they had been driving along only bright blue sky. An extremely sudden turn propelling Jaune onto the side of the truck. Only by his foot luckily catching onto some of the secure webbing which held the crates of various goods did he not fly off and become the new poster boy for seat belt safety.

As much as he wished otherwise he saw that Odis had been driving along a steep cliff path along Vale's mountain range and that they were approaching a sharp winding path which at the speed they were going would guarantee an accident, beyond that were what he guessed were one of the gates into the city of Vale.

"SLOW DOWN! SLOW DOWN!" Jaune yelled as loudly and urgently as he could which given the horrifying situation he was in probably came out more high pitched and like a girl screaming than he wanted it to.

"Here we go!" Odis yelled as he pushed down further on the gas petal. Jaune screamed even louder which Odis probably took as encouragement as the truck bounced to one side then literally drove on the cliff side wall of the twisting pathway thankfully avoiding it all together. If his life were not in immediate danger Jaune would admit that it was cool.

"TIME FOR THE FUN PART!" Odis yelled and Jaune nearly had a heart attack as he saw his driver's expression in the side mirror and that of his dog. ' _These two are psychotic! How the hell did I end up here!? I-'_

His thought process was interrupted as he felt the speeding death machine bump something, start rolling as a feeling of weightlessness took over. The fatal blow being when he felt his foot slipped free of the life saving webbing. He sailed through the air like he was a missile or a bizarre torpedo from the old war movies one of his older sisters loved. Although he was not sure if he was screaming or not as the gates of the great city of Vale approached him at high speed. If he knew he was going to die today he would have stuck with his original plan and traveled to Vale on foot. Although his fate was probably sealed the moment he got in the back of Odis' truck.

He braced himself for impact oddly enough colliding with the roof of Odis' truck first, finding himself bizarrely attached to it by _ghostly hands_ that materialized from his arms, they were probably the only things preventing him from flying off and dying from a very high velocity impact. Jaune tried to examined the ghostly arms in detail only learning that they were muscular, certainly more muscular than he was with nubs on the knuckles before they suddenly vanished leaving the forces of gravity and the laws of physics to take over as the ground rapidly approached him and the truck. He screamed as he flailed and twisted through the air, landing on his back with a _splat_.

Jaune stared at the blue sky, the bright sun light and warmth embracing him like his mother or sisters would when he was sad, he blinked as he methodically pulled himself up from his landing spot and looked around trying to shake off the shock of what just happened. It looked more like the aftermath of meteor strike, a long shallow trench in the dirt path with him at the end of it. He focused his vision and saw what bizarrely looked like hundreds hand prints in the dirt almost hidden among the scrapings of metal and cloth that made up the interior of the trench. That wasn't possible, he had landed on his back and the hand prints looked as though someone had padded the dirt down from the front as he was crashing into it.

He awkwardly reached around and found his extended shield on his back, it had apparently took the brunt of the landing as it was in an even worse shape than from his fight with the bandit lady the night before. Not only had it received new damage from the impact which had broken it into two separate pieces, it also had what he could only guess was the entire trench's supply of dirt stuffed into the cracks, rifts and place where his sword would be sheathed. He panicked and checked his hip, to his relief he found his sword hanging from one of the belt straps on his now completely ruined jeans.

Questions started forming in his head about the situation and how it could have happened when he did nothing of his own accord but stopped when he realized something far more important.

 _He was still **alive**_! He gasped as the man who nearly killed him appeared in his vision.

"Here we are. Jaune." He said "Come help me with my truck." If not for the partially paralyzing shock caused by his landing Jaune would probably have punched Odis in his smug, stupid face.

As they made their way to the gate marking the official entryway of the great city of Vale, both towing carts of goods, Odis started making remarks about the gate itself and what comes through there on a daily basis, not doubt it was important and interesting trivia but all Jaune could focus on was snapping out of his stupor. Only then did Jaune get a chance to marvel at the both large and fortified structure. It seemed to mix modern technology with an ancient design that had no doubt saved Vale from annihilation on countless occasions.

Like an ancient castle gate built into the surrounding rocky and rough surroundings it stood imposing, a design that, while he couldn't understand why, seemed to declare total domination of the area. On it's ramparts were what he could safely guess were soldiers sworn to protect Vale and it's territories at all costs, their modern equipment clashing sharply against the rocky and old style of structure they guarded. He no doubt could guess that there were more defenses and equipment hidden behind the ramparts ready to spring to life at the first sign of hostility and respond in kind. If he were an architect he no doubt would be able to appreciate the design of what practically looked like a fortress to him and how it must have been modified to allow various modern weapons and defense systems to share it's old and wizened form, if he were a proper tactician, military man, or historian he felt he would likely appreciate it's significance and importance as more than a a thick wall with a thick door that kept Grimm out and allowed people in. Never the less it still held a charm to it that seemed to welcome him in as if he were a child returning home to his family. It promised safety, comfort and more, he was so marveled by the construction that he had failed to notice when Odis stopped causing him to collide unceremoniously with the cart of goods Odis was pulling.

"Add 1 huntsman in training to that list." Odis joked as Jaune landed face first in what had to be cabbage. He quickly got up to see the un-amused face of a inspection agent as he made notes on his clip board and began inspecting the contents of Jaune's cart.

/-/

Jaune grumbled angrily as he put more money into the laundry machine. Damned river trout, jam and other perishable food exploded in his backpack when he landed and got into everything, it was costing him nearly as much as a night at the hotel he would be staying at just to get the damned smell out. It had started to stink when he was being interviewed by an immigration agent who promptly had him detained for the day and night while they figured out if he was who he said he was and if the bad smell was actually river trout mixed with jam and other food, not something illegal like preserved humanoid flesh or narcotics. By the time they gave his stuff back and released him the smell had managed to seep into everything he had in his bag, unless he got it washed out relatively quickly it would follow and stay with him in Beacon. After all it wouldn't do to go to Beacon smelling like a sweet fish based meal, unless he was going to meet a _pretty cat-girl_ of course.

He smirked at the idea as a crying voice echoed in his head ' _She ran away Jaune! She just left us!_ '

The dinging of the laundry machine brought him back to the present, he was hearing voices. ' _Am I going crazy?_ ' he wondered as he pulled the last batch of clothing from the laundry machine, folded then stuffed them into his now clean backpack. The whole situation seemed extremely bizarre, did other stand users hear voices like that or was he the only one?

He had only met 2 stand users other than the bandit lady but unfortunately never got the chance to ask about them, Dio wasn't much help on that topic either telling him that all stands were different and that it is possible that if a stand was manifesting itself that it could potentially have some negative side effects if he was unable to assert control over it.

He grumbled more about it as he made his way back to his hotel, pausing to look at his hand and remember what he saw yesterday. His stand was manifesting, it had partially materialized twice yesterday alone. It was the only explanation he could think of that would explain the ghostly hands that no doubt saved his life as there was no way that he did any of that on his own.

He smiled and began examining the local establishments on his way to his hotel, he needed to celebrate, it felt safe to confirm that his stand was emerging and seemed more keen on helping than hurting him, even if he didn't have full control over it yet or know for certain it's abilities. It would make his time at Beacon that much more awesome!

He paused and searched the name of the next club he saw online. Apparently it was a dance club owned and operated by a man named _Junior Xiong_ , known for providing an upbeat atmosphere with the dance floor placed in the middle, private booths to the sides and more, what made it different from other dance clubs apparently was it's acoustic design that allowed the people at the bar or in the private booths to converse normally without being drowned out or raising their voices to compete with the loud music while the flashing lights would be focused in the dance floor preventing unnecessary distractions. This along with various glass decorative designs that screamed 'fancy' got the club good ratings and other promising reviews, He smiled as he made his way to his hotel, once he was checked in, he would go partying.

/-/

"Pick a drink already kid." the bar tender called over the sound of the upbeat music that blared across the dance floor. Jaune glared at him and he returned it. He was a big man in a fancy black vest over a white dress shirt, black pants and gloves with short black hair and a beard. Jaune couldn't suppress his smirk fast enough, somehow the large, no doubt intimidating man seemed to resemble a well dressed bear in that moment and the bartender got up and made his way over to him. As he passed he bluntly told Jaune to either order a drink or get out before moving to talk to a _well-dressed_ and obviously _flamboyant_ _ginger_ man with a cane.

Jaune sighed as he returned to drink menu, he could understand why the man was frustrated, he spent the last 30 minutes staring at the menu although that wasn't entirely his fault. He had never heard of all the drinks they served here before. Where were the simple drinks like Ale or Grog, and what the hell was a Raspberry Sgroppino? After a while he called for something called a _Strawberry Sunrise_ , just in time apparently as a pair of _twins_ in red and white whom he guessed were bouncers moved to flank him.

"Make that two please." a new voice called as something definitely female filled the seat next to him. ' _Jackpot!_ ' he thought and closed his eyes, spun around on the bar stood, elbow on the bar top, fist pressed to his cheek, one leg crossed in a manly way over the other and put on his best smile. He heard the soft noise made by glass sliding against polished wood and grabbed it, holding it at chin level ' _Now for my ultimate introduction_.' he mused.

"The name is Jaune. Jaune Arc. And who might you be Miss?" he asked trying to ooze as much charm and confidence as he could before he opened his eyes and nearly fell off the stool.

The girl in question physically resembled the bandit lady he fought during the bandit attack with the exception of _Bright-gold hair_ , _Lilac eyes,_ and a different outfit which consisted of a yellow crop top, black shorts, a brown jacket with an orange scarf, a belt with several pouches and a pair of thick yellow bracelets. She giggled and smiled back " _Yang Xiao-Long_. And you spilled your drink." she responded.

He quickly glanced down to see that the spill had landed on his knee before forcing his face into a pleasant one. "I'm sorry, I was so taken by your beauty I had temporarily lost my composure." He said while his mind screamed questions like ' _Why is the bandit lady here?_ ' ' _Is she here to kill me?_ ' ' _Why does she look like that?_ ' in rapid succession.

"6 out of 10. Good try though." she responded sipping her drink.

"Only 6?" he questioned trying to force himself to calm down and perform an analysis of her. She wasn't wearing much make-up, and the little she was wearing were not centered around concealing her age, thankfully life with 7 sisters had taught him more about make-up than he felt a guy should know and he confirmed that she was much younger than the lady was, probably his age.

The roots of her hair were the same shade of blond as the rest of it, getting details like that correct look a lot of time and effort with the amount of chemicals need leaving a faint smell behind. He did not smell any trace of hair dye or anything other than the standard perfume a girl would wear and was able to confirm that it was her natural color.

Her voice and tone were also very different than that of the bandit lady. Unless she was an expert at voice acting he doubted that ingrained cheer, pleasantness, pitch and tone this girl had could be duplicated.

He focused his vision on her posture and expression, she leaned slightly forward with her arms and knees a small distant apart, enough to suggest she was open to him but not inviting, one standard subconscious pose for people who wanted to have a friendly talk with someone, hang-out and/or meet new people, but little else. Her pleasant smile and partially focused gaze suggested she found him amusing in his attempts to flirt with her as she sipped her fancy looking drink, no traces of any hostility present.

He relaxed finally, unless the bandit lady was pulling some kind of bizarrely elaborate scheme and using what had to be the best disguise ever, he could safely confirm that this wasn't the middle-aged beauty that tried to murder him two nights ago, instead she was a girl in her late teens who had a disturbing resemblance to the bandit lady. That was something he was bizarrely okay with.

"Only 6." she confirmed before narrowing her brow "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh sorry, you look like someone I met earlier this week." he unintelligent blurted out. Dio would probably strangle him for that if he was here right now.

Her smile came back and her brow relaxed "Oh really?" She pulled out her phone and opened it. "Was it this person?" She slid her finger across the screen and he gagged when he saw it. It was and old photograph with all the little imperfections of old photography exaggerated by what had to be the phone camera's zoom feature, but on it was the bandit lady from the last town standing to her side but still easily recognizable enough for him.

"Oh crap." he again blurted out as she wrapped one arm around his shoulder. Under normal circumstances he would have been happy to have such a buxom, bouncy and soft lady brush up to him like that but now he could only equate the feeling to that of a python or other large snake-like creature wrapping itself around it's doomed victim, the point solidifying itself when she gently pressed her fingers into his arm.

"So you've seen her. Can you tell me where and when please?" she asked in a serious but flirtatious manner.

He glanced at her face, her expression had changed from friendly to serious which she poorly concealed with a plastic smile her eyes now fully focused. He spun under her arm and off the stool, swirling half a foot away before settling to face her "Look it's been nice, but I got to go."

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" She yelled as she lunged at him, using her left elbow to pin him to the bar by the neck settling her right fist back in a standard punching position as her bracelets unfolded and expanded on themselves. He gasped and she pressed slightly harder down on him. "Tell me what I want to know or _Ember Celica_ will give you a kiss!"

/==== _To be Continued_ ===/

 **AN; *hands on cheek bones* OH NO! Yang has appeared! Is she going to fight Jaune in juniors club? Probably. Will it be a stand battle? Maybe. Will Jaune win and how would he do it? Find out next time on Jaune Arc's Bizarre Adventure. A** **lso chapter 3 has been edited to make it less like a giant text box, go check it out if you haven't already.**


	5. Chapter 5

Jaune gagged as he crashed onto the bar the telltale rattling of glass suggesting they unintentionally knocked something over. He focused his analysis on her face and of course she now took an openly hostile expression, all pretenses of pleasantness gone. Her thick bracelets unfolded and expanded until they encompassed her forearms and reached over her fists.

' _Where the hell are the bouncers?_ ' he thought only then noticing that men in black suits with red sunglasses and ties along with the _twins_ from before had just taken notice and began moving to them. He gasped and realized that if he could distract her long enough then maybe he wouldn't have to fight her, after all he left his armor and weapons in his hotel room. While he didn't need either to fight the girl pinning him to the bar, she clearly was trained in hand to hand combat as was currently better equipped for it.

"Tell me what I want to know or _Ember Celica_ will give you a kiss!" She threatened.

He gagged and she loosened the pressure enough to let him talk before demanding information again. He panicked and squealed "I don't know anything I swear!"

"Wrong answer!" the blond yelled before her fist descended towards his face. Color faded rapidly and he reached for what he hopped was a glass bottle from behind the bar counter, his fingers barely scrapping the lid before it seemed to float into his hand as if someone handed it to him.

"MUDA!" he yelled as the glass bottle collided with the top of the Yang's head shattering and causing her to recoil after her fist collided with the bar-top causing it to explode. He took the opportunity to push himself from under her and scamper toward the exit. He skidded to a halt as armed guards/bouncers raised their weapons and blocked his exit, behind them the rest of the patrons started to flee from the inevitable fight.

Color returned and the _twin bouncers_ pushed themselves to the forefront of the mob of black suited men that surrounded him and the girl he was trying to escape.

"You do hope you will be paying for that." they said in unison.

He raised his hands in a show of pacification "Look, there has been a huge misunderstanding I-"

Instinct kicked in again and he lashed out towards the blond behind him delivering a surprise kick to her stomach, screaming "Muda!" before spinning to face her.

His blood turned to ice when he saw her eyes change from _Lilac_ to _Red_. All she needed now was raven hair and she could easily pass as the bandit lady's daughter or something. He put his arms up to block her next strike, screaming when a bang sounded and he was propelled over the bar. He shook his hands as his sleeves fell apart, his aura had stopped most of whatever hit him but he could easily confirm that it wasn't just her fist. His forearms protested as he pulled himself up, another reminder why despite his excellent boxing training he preferred the sword and shield, it just hurt too much to use his fists and arms to block and strike.

From behind the bar he analysed Yang as she fight off the black-suited guards, her fighting style was much different than that of the bandit lady, for starters she fought purely as a brawler, nothing about her stance and movements suggested she had any proficiency in anything other than that style. Of the many styles of boxing Dio had told him about, 'brawling' was one of the most foreword and aggressive, a fairly sharp contrast to his style which Dio referred to as 'classical' and claimed was better based on it's elegance and how it mixed offence and defense in more equal measures.

Second were her gauntlets, which not only could fold onto themselves until they resembled thick bracelets, but were also mini-shotguns with the swing of her fist activating both the triggering and loading mechanism. A simple concept with from what he was seeing a simple and straight foreword operating method. He quietly cooed like a fan-girl and mentally slapped himself for not thinking of similar or simply going with normal gauntlets when he was deciding between studying swordsmanship or staying with his boxing training.

' _I can do both of course. I can wear specialty gauntlets and fight with them if I lose my sword and shield again_.' He realized as he began sulking towards the exit only stopping when 3 hostile guards with swords appeared before him and attacked. He started dodging backwards, failing to land a few punches as he went, his instinct wasn't kicking in and things weren't slowing down either, forcing him to keep dodging backwards to avoid the sharp blades.

Something hard slammed into the side of his head and he flew like a cannon ball through the crowd of men taking the twin in _white_ with him, slamming head first into her teeth as he flew. He bounced once and wrapped his arms around the lady launched with him and collided back-first into one of the glass columns. As it shattered around him she pushed herself out of his grip and stood up to deliver a snap-kick to his face which knocked him to the ground. Without aura it would likely have knocked out 2 or 3 of his teeth, but he didn't concern himself with that as she rose her leg up to deliver an ax-kick.

Color faded as the kick descended, he scrambled out just in time getting a grazing hit and stood from her a meter away, he held his arms out in an attempt to pacify her and she spun to deliver a roundhouse kick as he opened his mouth. He caught it mid swing and he spun using all the momentum his body could muster to lift, spin then hopefully throw her onto something or someone. Her other foot swung toward his undefended head and he let her go before it could connect. She twirled in mid air with the grace of an acrobat before landing perfectly on her feet a few meters away with a scowl. He tensed up as he saw her leg muscles bulge under her stockings, her scowling face transforming into one of complete hostility, her eyes locked and focused on him and him alone. He though there was a chance of negotiating with her or settling the fight without more violence, her face betraying her thoughts and intentions that had told him otherwise.

As Melanie charged at him Jaune tried focusing his will, trying to make things slow down. If it was truly one of his abilities or his semblance then he should logically be able to force it to activate it to some degree by his will alone rather than just as a reflexive action. To his distinct pleasure it worked and he watched as most of the color faded while she started slowly performing a spinning jump kick, he backed up slightly to avoid her as a newer distorted sound reached his ears. He turned around and saw in extremely slow-motion Yang leaping towards him, knocking aside the last of the black suited men with Miltia in hot pursuit. What shocked him most was the fact that the girl's hair was on fire, or it seemed like it was, despite this she pushed onward fist thrown back and ready to deliver what would no doubt be an extremely powerful and no doubt painful blow.

"What in _za warudo_?" He blurted out, biting his tongue mid sentence, distorting his words.

A black wave emanated from him obliterated all color and sound, not a single trace or hint left like it would be when everything slowed down, just mono-chrome people and objects all in black, white and grey frozen in silence. He froze in place as a completely new sensation took over his senses, feeling dizzy, confused and anxious all in one. He put his hand to his head and stopped in shock as he found that despite the mono-chrome surrounding, his skin and apparel did not lose any color like when things slowed down for him before. Against the backdrop of mono-chrome colors he almost seemed to glow, he couldn't understand it at all. This shouldn't happen, it was impossible, it was almost as if he had _stopped time_. A loud tick like that of a mechanical grand father clock echoed, the sudden sound frightening him.

"Hello?" he called his voice echoing, the returning echo sending a slight chill own his spine.

"Is anyone there?" he tried again and was met with a second tick of the phantom grand father clock.

Nervous he looked around to frozen faces and eyes that refused to fully meet his, this felt unnatural, and he felt a sudden fear go through him as the isolation became apparent. Did he push his abilities too far and slow everything down to the point that it seemed as if everything had stopped? He gulped nervously, if that was the case how would he reverse this? Could he reverse this? He had to try something, before it was all instinctive and activated if he was in extreme danger. This was the first time he actively tried forcing time to slow down and logically if he could force time to slow down for him, he could hopefully speed it up just enough for it to move at the normal rate. He just hopped that it wouldn't require too much trial and error. The question now being ' _how_ '?

' _here goes nothing_.' He thought as he stretched his arms and legs noticing something strange as he did.

His pocket watch, a gift from his father for his 10th birthday had both fallen out of his pocket and opened. He held it in his hand and examined it. It had a silver cover with a design that mirrored one that might be found on the classical gentleman's watch. The interior was much the same except the lid had a photo of his family on it. The glass of the dial was transparent and allowed him to see the mechanism as it worked to keep track of time for him. Despite it's old style it had enough modern machinery in it so that he wouldn't need to twist a dial every few hours to keep it working, instead it ran on a small battery the size of a coin that fit perfectly in the back of the watch. Attached to it was a long elegant and ascetically pleasing silver chain welded to a clip he currently had attached to the belt loop by the pocket he kept it in, the chain long enough for him to pull it out of his pocket and hold it in front of him without the discomfort a shorter chain would give him.

Oddly enough the watch was still functional although it seemed to be going at a slow rate, much slower than he expected but much, much, MUCH faster than everything in the surroundings. He looked at it and mused as the device's second's hand ticked one second onward.

"Huh." his voice echoed over the 3rd tick of the phantom grand-father clock.

"It's like _time has begun to move again_ or something." he spoke out loud.

Color rushed into everything around him and with it came Yang screaming over the music of the night club. He felt her gauntlet and fist collide with his left temple while Melanie's bladed boot met his right temple, a blast from the gauntlet propelled him onto the twin who in turn spun around to knock him to the side and place her other foot into Yang's sternum, knocking her back while Miltia swiped at her back.

Jaune groaned as he watched Yang fight off the twins, he felt weak, like he might after performing heavy exercise for a long period of time, the two flanking hits from the twin in white and the blond girl only making it worse. He dragged himself to one of the private booths to recover while the trio fought it out behind him. He half slid, half crawled onto what he assumed was one of the benches of the private booth and forced himself into a sitting position. His hands were shaking too much, and he could barely control his body's movements, and his vision was apparently distorted a little as he watched 3 colors move about the dance floor and yell at each other, the ringing in his ears preventing him from actually making out anything while a strange stinging sensation emerged from the spot where the bladed heel met him. If he was correct the hits to his head were causing him to suffer some kind of shock that distorted his brain waves or simply put; scrambled his head. He groaned and wished he knew more about how the human brain actually worked, then he might have a better idea of what he was dealing with and how long it would last.

He had a sudden theory and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to test it out. He focused his will and surely enough color faded from the trio until he could barely distinguish them apart and they slowed down considerably. Despite being what video games and other media might refer to as being ' _stunned_ ' he could still alter the flow of time. He tried to calm down, he needed to in order to focus on recovery. After what felt like minutes his hands stopped trembling, the ringing and stinging stopped, his vision returned and despite the amount of time that he thought had passed the trio had barely moved. He got up and looked at his watch.

Yep, despite what he perceived to be several minutes turned out to be barely seconds. He confirmed two things as he got back up stuffing his pocket watch back into his pocket. 1; he could still control the flow of time despite any injury or any altered mental state he had, at least while he was still conscious. 2; he could use his aura to recover from these while he was slowing down time.

These 2 facts meant that if he was inebriated, incapacitated or anything other than healthy and uninjured he could essentially heal himself in what everyone else perceived to be mere seconds, a major advantage in any fight. Just how much he could use this apparent ability and what exactly it applied to was something he would need to research on his own in a controlled environment like Beacon's training rooms. To do so he would need to get away from this brawl and seeing that the only people capable of stopping him now were currently locked in battle he made his way to the exit.

He rounded the corner and froze as the bearded bartender that left him to speak to the flamboyant ginger swing a _giant club_ at him. Ghostly arms materialized for a split second as it hit, apparently absorbing most of the damage the swing would have caused but preventing or maybe caused him to sail through the air onto the dance floor crashing onto something soft.

He scrambled to his feet as Yang did while swinging her fists at him, since she got him into this mess he decided to returned the complements in kind.

"Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda!" He yelled as she screamed at him. He could tell she was getting more and more frustrated as her aggressive but calculated attacks transformed into wild frenzied swinging. He smiled as he willed time to slow down just enough to allow him to avoid or redirect the blasts from her shotgun gauntlets while landing his barrage of hits on her.

" **MUDA!** " he screamed at the top of his lungs as he delivered a powerful blow to her muscular stomach, knocking her backwards off her feet. She was probably done fighting now, thank Dio for that because he wasn't sure how much more bare-knuckle boxing his hands and wrists could take.

He looked up to see the man with the club smile as it transformed into a _bazooka_. He gasped as several missiles launched towards him. ' _Oh gods, I am going to die a -_ '. he thought before a simple realization hit him. He focused his will, and smiled as the missiles began slowing down mid flight. He began making his way to the bar but stopped as something snagged at his mind. He looked back and saw the girl as she descended to the ground in slow motion a strange look of horror on her face.

He paused to wonder if he should help her avoid the missiles, she was the cause of this whole mess and deserved to take the full force of the blast, but even considering that made him feel guilty. She looked so helpless as she descended to the floor in slow motion and just abandoning her like that, even though she started this fight, just didn't sit well with him. He decided to do the more 'moral' thing and help her by grabbing her by the arms and pulled her to safety with him. Color returned as the missiles detonated on the part of the dance floor they were just on, Jaune glanced at the faces of his attackers and noted that they were in various states of surprise by what they no doubt perceived to be a sudden speed boost from him.

"Th-, thank you?" Yang managed to say, as shocked as the twins and man were.

"Yeah, thank me when we get out of here." Jaune responded.

"You're not going anywhere blonde!" Junior called.

Jaune looked to their expressions that rapidly returned to one of hostility, the minor details of their expressions not normally seen or detected by regular people told him that this was beyond the point of no return. It was either beat all 3 of them or possibly die. He focused his vision on each of them and began to formulate a plan.

The man did appear to be strong and tough considering how well he handled the bazooka/club but he was currently standing between him and the exit, if he was to escape he would need to get by him no matter what, thankfully he seemed to lack the speed needed to keep up with him when he slowed time. The other problem came in the form of the twins in red and white thankfully with enough minor details to their apparel to distinguish them apart even in slow motion. They seemed confident the man would support them while they worked together to flank and gang up on him the moment he made a move. Then came his newest fr-enemy Yang, the aggressive brawler currently best equipped for this battle despite being slightly shaken, she could probably fight off the twins while he dealt with the man and made his way to safety. Providing of course that she didn't turn on him in an instant. In the end he would need to depend on Yang, whether she turned on him or not. No matter what she did next it would ruin someones plan and likely help him escape in the end.

"Well good luck with this." Jaune stated as he began making his way to the door, pausing when he felt Yang grab his wrist.

"You're just going to leave me?" Yang barked.

"You got me into this mess, you-" before Jaune could complete is sentence he heard a click and several whistling sounds and pushed Yang away, ghostly arms materializing and providing extra momentum, her surprised form obscured by a sudden explosion that hit the spot where she was.

He jumped backwards and forced himself into a strait standing position with his feet pointed towards the blast, as he predicted he felt the force of the explosion mostly on his feet and legs rather than his whole body. While bad for his feet and legs it had oddly enough ensured that he was going to receive less overall injury, especially to his vital organs and glands. However it had the unwanted and bizarre effect of propelling him further like a missile. He tilted his head backwards to see where he was flying and screamed ' _why!_ ' as the collision course was set.

Junior's eyes widened as his horizontal swing missed the blond missile screaming "WWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" and the boy's head slammed into his guts, causing him to bend double as he was lifted off his feet and into the door of his club. The blond stood sharply to his feet a second later and Junior kicked him towards the twins, willing himself not to puke as he got up using his club as a crutch.

"Great job! Now deal with these two!" he heard the blond girl yell as she shoved the boy towards his most competent bouncers _Melanie_ and _Miltia Malachite_. She charged and jumped at him, screaming like a mad woman as her hair practically exploded in flame and her eyes turned blood red, he lost consciousness when her fist connected with his face.

/=== _Junior Xiong temporarily retired_ ====/

Jaune gagged and cursed as he was shoved onto the dance floor with the angry twins. That bitch left him to deal with the twins, he was barely in any shape to fight! He wasn't even sure if his neck and spine were still intact from the collision with the bearded bazooka man. The only reason his vertebrae was _probably damaged_ , instead of _certainly crushed_ was because the ghostly hands had appeared and along with his aura absorbed most of the impact, and while he was beyond thankful for those mercies it still left him off balance with pain in his neck and upper back which he hopped he could recover from.

The twins both dashed towards him, Melanie swung to kick him in the face and he ducked under it, while Miltia lunged her claws towards him, he jumped back and flew several meters as Melanie slammed both of her bladed heels into his chest and pushed off, twisting then landing perfectly on her feet.

He groaned and climbed onto his feet setting himself in a standard boxing stance as the twins came at him again. He focused his will and time began to slow for him, as it did he ducked under Miltia's claws and made a snap kick to the back of her knee, forcing her to fall into a kneeling position. Melanie swung next aiming to deliver a low kick that would have hit him if he was still distracted by Miltia, he countered by punching her in the thigh causing her to spin off balance and trip away from them. Color returned as Jaune swung his fist towards Miltia's back, to his surprise she pulled her arm over her shoulder in time to block his fist perfectly. He recoiled as the pain of punching thin sharp strips of metal at full force registered in his brain and Melanie returned kicking at him as she did. He jumped back to avoid it as both twins had gotten to their feet and charged him again, he forced time to slow down to allow himself time to think.

Miltia should not have blocked him like she did, she wasn't facing him, she was kneeling and the block was too precise, which resulted in him punching the sharp edge of her two blade-like claws with the soft muscles between his knuckles. As he landed he jumped foreword landing his fists in both their guts, forcing time to slow down just long enough to prevent them from properly blocking or avoiding it. Melanie bent double over his fist while Miltia flew back.

He took the opportunity to strike at Melanie, who had surprisingly blocked it perfectly with a scorpion kick. He growled and looked down at the dance floor, it wasn't reflecting anything so she wasn't responding to his strikes due to his reflection, and even then it was again too perfect a block for that. He focused his vision and willed time to slow more in his attempt to get a glimpse of something, anything because the way these two were blocking him when they logically shouldn't be able to, at least not to that degree of precision suggested something unnatural.

He thought he saw something, and focused his vision more on it. It appeared to be a transparent and ghostly antenna of some kind, attached to Melanie's spine and neck almost like it was grafted onto it with some bizarre mix of flesh and metal. He paused, that was not there before, if it was he would have noticed it earlier. He looked up at Miltia as she was finishing her mid air flip and began twisting to land perfectly on the ground, both eyes watching him. He focused his vision on her and saw the same thing, he recognized it for what it was relatively quickly. It was a stand, one both of them shared.

/=====================================================================================================/

 **Stand name: ?**

 **Destructive power; ?**

 **Speed; ?**

 **Range; ?**

 **Durability/staying; ?**

 **Precision; ?**

 **Development potential/Learning; ?**

 **User: Miltiades "Miltia" Malachite and Melanie Malachite**

 **Abilities: Uncertain**

/=====================================================================================================/

A thought crossed his mind and he forced time to move slower again before delivering a slow moving strike that combined with the slow motion of time would appear to them like a standard attack. He then forced his fist out of Melanie's stomach and used that arm to cover her eyes, nose and ears before altering his ' _attack's_ ' trajectory enough to hit a different part of her back and turned to watch Miltia. When he felt Melanie's bladed heel block his new 'attack' he gasped and lost his focus. Melanie did 'see' his attacks coming as if she was looking at him because her sister 'saw' it coming, whatever _one twin was sensing or perceiving_ was being sensed by the _other one_ as well! He paid for his loss of focus when color returned and Melanie delivered a scorpion kick to his face causing him to let go of her and recoil several steps away. Was he bleeding? he looked at his hands. Yep he was bleeding.

"He figured it out Miltia." Melanie said as she straitened herself.

"Yes. He knows _Salt-N-Pepa_ 's ability now Melanie." Miltia responded as she stood next to her sister. Jaune swore, he was practically fighting 2 people who shared a hive mind with a very weak and depleted aura, the bleeding being a very good indicator of this. He had to know more if he was going to figure out how to win.

"Can it do anything else? Or are you limited to just sharing sensory information?" Jaune asked. Their silence was telling, but the subtle change in their expressions confirmed they weren't hiding any other secrets about their stand from him, it may not even be able to attack him, but it was the twins he was more worried about.

He focused and tried to force time to slow down again only getting more and more tired the slower he tried to make it go. He grunted as he barely blocked Melanie's low kick and Miltia's high swing, they were trying to distract him by attacking him at the same, the ability to do two separate tasks at once with two separate limbs or in this case block two attacks that came at two different parts of him was something he did not possess. And without his ability to slow time down to the extent he wanted to, they were quickly wearing him down, he was getting more and more tired the longer he was keeping it up. His vision swam and one of his eyes started going lazy, even when the ghostly limbs of what he could safely guess was _his stand_ finally emerged to provide some much needed force to block the hits, his own attempts were becoming more and more sluggish, slower, weaker and lazy as he tried to keep up with their barrage of unison attacks and follow-ups.

He couldn't take much more of this, surely enough he failed to as Melanie tripped him and Miltia slammed her claws into his stomach tearing through cloth and flesh alike. Only by the grace of his stand's arms grabbing the blades along with his own did they not dig deeper as he tried with what little strength he had left to try and pry them out or keep them from going deeper. He gasped as Melanie raised her foot up, presumably to stomp him with her bladed heels while Miltia raised her other set of claw up ready to slash at him, he was now defenseless and completely at their mercy.

He heard a feminine scream and both twins jumped away from him to avoid Yang. He tried to warn her about them but she was already gone. The two split up to flank her and Yang perused Miltia, Yang would get flanked and beaten like him if the twin's strategy worked. He needed to help her somehow, but how could he, he had almost no strength left, no weapons, and couldn't slow time down anymore. How could he defeat a set of twins who could sense and feel what the each other was sensing and feeling?

Melanie jumped to kick Yang while she was blocking Miltia's attacks and to her surprise something collided with her. She tumbled to the edge of the dance floor away from her sister as something flopped onto her. It was the blond boy who started this mess, he apparently still had enough strength in him to be a nuisance. She twisted under him and kneed him in the side, he gasped and she felt something shift in his rib cage as his arms flopped to her sides. She growled and began pushing him off her when she saw the arms of _his stand_ materialize and grip her by the sides. Before she could react they began moving up and down in rapid succession.

She tried to resist, tried to free herself but eventually buckled and tried force the ghostly hands off her with her elbows as he _tickled_ her. She burst into laughter and her sister struggled to keep back Yang's onslaught as she felt the tickling sensation through her sides as well, her biological instincts demanding she put her arms down to protect herself from her 'attacker' while she tried to force them in front of her to stop Yang from hurting her.

Melanie kicked at Jaune with little effect, and he had apparently put the last of his strength into tickling her. He was exploiting the weakness in their stand's ability. It made both twins feel whatever one was feeling, and because Melanie was being ticked by Jaune her sister also was being tickled by him as their stand relayed everything they were seeing and feeling in real time. The tickling was distracting Miltia in her fight, preventing her from fully focusing and fending off Yang. While Melanie started to feel the pain her sister was feeling when Yang's hits finally started to land with greater effect.

The bizarre combination of both pain from being punched by Yang and the childish joy of being ticked by Jaune flooded their senses and effectively destroyed their defense. Continuing until Yang delivered the final blow knocking Miltia through one of the class columns by edge of the dance floor rendering her unconscious, the feedback of it passing through to Melanie and also rendering her unconscious.

/=== _Miltiades "Miltia" Malachite temporarily retired_ ===/

/=== _Melanie Malachite temporarily retired_ ===/

Yang breathed a sigh of relief before she went and lifted Jaune up by the back of his shirt and threw him over her shoulder. She had no idea what he did but whatever it was it worked wonders. Yes, it was bizarre that the red-dressed twin suddenly started laughing and moved as if to try and cover herself like she was being tickled by someone, since she grew up with _Ruby_ and occasionally did that to her she knew basically what it looked like. And because Jaune had helped her, even after she threatened him, attacked him, then threw him at the two while she went for Junior whom he had weakened for her, she felt like the least she could do is carry him out of the club. And maybe to get his stomach wound looked at since he was now starting to bleed on her good jacket. She tossed her hair to the side to prevent any blood from getting into it and heard him mumble something.

"There, there, Jaune. Don't worry I'll get you some place where we can get that wound looked at." She cooed, a moment later he mumbled something.

"Don't worry we'll be there soon." She said as she stepped out of the club and to her delight saw a familiar _figure in red_.

"Yang is that you?" she called.

"Oh, hey _sis_." Yang called back.

"What are you doing here?"

"Right now dealing with this guy." Yang shifted Jaune over her shoulder.

She froze when she heard the sirens of police cars approaching and internally cursed ' _if they questioned me now I'm going to be in big trouble_.' she looked at her sister then back at the boy. Her bike could carry two and her sister could potentially keep up with them sooo.

Jaune grunted as he landed on what he guessed was the back seat of the yellow motorbike, the sirens in the distance getting mercifully closer. ' _NOOOOOO! I was so close!_ ' he thought as Yang mounted the front seat.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of you." he heard Yang say as the engine revved up. He tried to call for help, but instead mumbled something unintelligible before the bike sped away and his motion sickness caught up with him.

/=====================================================================================================/

 **Stand name: Salt-N-Pepa**

 **Destructive power; N/A**

 **Speed; A**

 **Range; A**

 **Durability/staying; A**

 **Precision; A**

 **Development potential/Learning; E**

 **User: Miltiades "Miltia" Malachite and Melanie Malachite**

 **Abilities: Allows one twin to perceive, feel and sense what the other is perceiving, feeling and sensing in real time.**

/=====================================================================================================/

 **AN: Holy shit! Jaune accidentally activated** ** _The World_** **for 3 whole seconds! Like several stand users in** ** _Jojo's Bizarre Adventure_** **he learned of his abilities almost by accident and started to learn about then master them relatively quickly. Will Jaune ever discover that he stopped time instead of slowing it down to the point where it appeared to be stopped? Of course, but not yet. More to Come next time on** **Jaune Arc's bizarre adventure** **.**


	6. Chapter 6

Salem moved through the room with an unnatural grace. To her right her most loyal and capable servants all stood in attention to their queen. She sat down on her throne at the head of the table. Ordering them to take their seats as well with an unspoken command.

"Watts. What day is it today?" Salem casually asked.

"It would be _Friday_ mistress." Watts responded from his seat to her immediate right.

Salem turned her head to look at him, then back to the rest of her servants before smiling and whispering "Good."

/==========================================================================================================/

Jaune grunted as he reached for his cup of water. It was several centimeters out of his reach and that alone was driving him crazy. Where the hell was his stand!? He knew he had one but it wasn't materializing for him. He tried focusing his will, he tried focusing his mind and he tried using whatever was left of his aura to will his stand into the material world but nothing worked.

He half sighed, half growled as he gave up, it was one thing to be exhausted and have to go to the hospital for it. Another thing entirely to be exhausted to the degree he was with a gut wound and a warning not to move too much because of the risk of aggravating or opening your digestive track which would likely lead to death by septic shock.

He growled again, he was thirsty and the one thing that would help him get his cup was not helping and apparently not going to respond to him unless it was an emergency.

' _If I wait much longer it will be an emergency!_ ' He had nothing to do while he waited for his aura to regenerate and heal him, he could will himself into his private realm and speak to Dio, but what was he going to say?

' _Hi Dio, I have a stand but I can't control it?_ '

That wouldn't do. It was like coming home to tell mom and dad that you had _almost_ passed a test, _almost_ got into the institute you wanted and _almost_ got your way. Dio wasn't a man you bothered with 'almost', with him it was either you succeed or you were wasting his time. Jaune didn't want to waste any of Dio's time or hear what he would have to say about that. The next time he saw Dio in their private realm would be after he made some headway with his stand.

He looked up at the ceiling and the strange brown stain there, realizing he wasn't used to this kind of isolation or loneliness. Back home his sisters would always be there with him and if they weren't then his parents would be, in the rare instance this wasn't the case he could always count on some of his friends. Their was almost no point in his life when he wasn't alone or with his family or friends, here he had none of those. At this point he was even willing to hang out with that 'Yang' girl who was responsible for him being in the hospital in the first place.

Wait no, he didn't want her here. The only reason she wasn't with him now was because he was too injured to be interrogated when she brought him in. That or because a police officer had finally shown up to -just like Yang- be told that he was too injured for interrogations, thankfully he waited for him to recover while passively warding off Yang. After Jaune gave his account of how he got the injuries, the officer left to do who knew what, again leaving him alone. He sighed and leaned back, hopping that his aura would heal enough of his stomach wound to allow him to safely move. After all the sooner he left, the sooner he could get back to his room and be done with the day.

He lay there for what felt like hours, it was still dark outside and he didn't have his pocket watch with him making time seem to pass at a much slower rate. This was made much worse by when he tried his 'healing' trick. The general sensory deprivation made him attuned to all the little things around him from the sounds of the nurse answering questions to the end of the hallway to how his aura stitching his wounds closed. While he wasn't an expert on stab wounds, after enough time had passed he felt confident that he could move now and not accidentally open his digestive track and turn his blood septic.

Reaching over and wincing at the minor pain he finally grabbed his cup of water and drank before getting up and opening the window. He needed the fresh air and almost immediately regretted it as a foul smell came from several floors below, he gagged and forced it closed. He needed to check out, the longer he stayed the more he would likely have to pay the hospital and the more likely Yang would be to return.

"Excuse me is my brother still here?" He heard a familiar voice ask as he got the last of his clothes on.

He froze, ' _Brother?_ ' he thought, before hobbling his way to the door frame.

As he feared Yang had come back and was currently talking to the man at the nurse's station. His actual sisters didn't know he was here and even if they did their was no way that they would be able to get from Sino to here in that short a period of time. Since Yang apparently thought the two could pass for siblings in some bizarre way she decided to check him in under a fake name claiming to be his twin sister. He cursed and closed the door, turning what he thought was the lock as he began to think of a safe way to escape. The hallway Yang was in was empty and had a clear view across it's linear pathway. As he was too injured and weak to move quickly enough to escape Yang when she would spot him, he needed another escape plan and fast.

When the janitor finally got the door open and let Yang in she was shocked to find the room empty. That was impossible, there was no way he could have escaped down the hallway, she would have seen him. She stepped in to investigate while the supervisor called security and looked around. To her disbelief she found a crude rope made of bed sheets tied to the windowsill, pushing the window open she gagged as the smell of the full dumpster several stories almost directly below her reached her nose.

"That son of a bitch." she seethed before leaving the room, not noticing Jaune's satisfied smile as he crawled out from between the metal frame of the hospital bed and the mattress.

/-/

 _'By far the most bizarre and violent party I ever went to.'_ he mused as he entered his hotel room.

He checked his watch and decided to take a bath, despite being 2 am he felt that once he got clean he could be able to sleep properly. He settled in the bath and sighed blissfully, his skin protested as the boiling hot bathwater attacking him while the scent of complementary soap that transformed the tub into a fizzy, bubbling mess embraced him. He couldn't understand why everyone but him hated bathing in water so hot you could swear you being boiled alive, maybe he was just bizarre like that.

He sunk himself fully under and smiled as the burning water assaulted his face and hair before coming back up for air and leaned his head backwards onto the rim of the tub. The journey to Vale had been short, and a little too eventful for him but he had made it. With only 4 days left until the Beacon entrance ceremony and initiation he would need to re-arrange his budget to focus on living in Vale until he got into Beacon.

Getting his shield repaired would cost him he didn't know how much and he would need a new shirt to replace the one Yang damaged but if he was truly desperate, he would find a seamstress or a sewing kit and transform his once long sleeved shirt into it's short sleeved version. He sloshed over to the end of the tub where he left his phone and deleted his planned schedule. No point keeping it if the things he planned for no longer applied, he also considered leaving his family a message to if nothing else let them know he was OK. He decided to postpone the task and tossed his phone onto the pile of now dirty clothing.

He had left home 3 days ago and already so much happened, granted it was worrying that he had one near death experience per day. First the bandit lady, then riding in Odis' truck and now clubbing with Yang, he leaned foreword placing his arms over the rim and resting his head on them.

 _Yang,_ something about her seemed very familiar, far too familiar. Not because she resembled the middle-aged bandit lady so much, it was the familiarity that suggested she was a friend he had finally met again after what seemed like a lifetime apart. The more he thought about her the more bizarre his feelings became.

' _She. Won't be coming with us. She. She needs time to recover. I don't know how long it will take. We should go now if we are going to do this_.' a sad but familiar voice echoed in his head.

He stirred, the voices again, he needed to figure them out and soon, if they were a side effect of his stand emerging then he needed to get it under control and fast, something he could work on when he got up. He curled up and felt cold, the blanket felt weird, why was it so cold and engulfing? Wait, was he breathing?

He burst from the now cold water of the bathtub yelling "I'm awake!" and was met by the hotel maid screaming and rushing out the room. He paused to gulp some air, running his hands over his body. Once confirming that; yes, he fell asleep in the bath and no, he somehow didn't die of drowning despite being submerging for an unknown amount of time, he got out and tried to shake off the shock of his 4th near-death experience in as many days.

/-/

' _I'm cursed_.' he morbidly thought as he made his way through Vale.

' _Any second now someone is going to come and try to kill me_.' he thought as he glanced at the faces of the people going about their business.

Was this truly what it would mean for him to be a huntsman? Sure he expected danger, he would need to fight Grimm and on occasion other people, that was part of the job description. However he doubted him being a huntsman would involve nearly dying 4 times in as many days before he had even entered Beacon academy. That may have been acceptable if he were in the contested lands where Grimm, bandits and other hazards to life and limb lurked freely. It wasn't in Vale's interior territories where safety was one of the priorities the governing councils not only focused most on but were actually capable of ensuring.

/-/

"Oh this is bad." he said as he looked through his phone.

As he had feared the cost of living in Vale for almost 4 days, having his armor and shield repaired even at the lowest price he could find and setting aside money for a hospital bill to cover the expenses of treatment for injuries that -thankfully- hadn't occurred almost completely destroyed his projected budget for the trip. He groaned and fell back on the cheap bed of the equally cheap motel he had moved into to save on costs and began wondering what else he could cut on. His stomach growled and he punched at it angrily, a reminder of one of the things he cut costs on in order to save his budget. He sighed and checked his account again, noting he still had a couple hundred _Lien_ left, which was enough for a quick trip to the hospital or getting his clothes and gear a cheap patch job when it was required.

If his family knew he was cutting down on necessities to have money for a hospital bill or medication for the injuries he knew he was bound to receive, or get quick and cheap repairs to his gear before someone attacked him again, they would be horrified or at the very least concerned. No doubt his mother might tell him to come home because of the dangers. His father might lecture him about the importance of having a good budget plan before caving in and depositing some money into his account along with some cryptic warning about it being his last 'handout' in an attempt to scare him into handling his money better. His sisters would have various responses, depending mostly on their mood at the time rather than how much they actually liked him. Although he had to admit it was kind of his fault he was in this situation, if he had stuck to his original plan he would have entered Vale yesterday with at least 2000 Lien still in his account for whatever he wanted.

In hindsight he probably should have planned for the possibility, -no matter small- that he would get into several fights with psychopaths, specifically female psychopaths who seemed hell-bent on murdering or hurting him. His stomach growled at him again as he went over his checklist, he was certain he had everything he would need for his initial stay at Beacon. His shield was repaired, the rift in his back plate was welded shut, his airship ticket was paid, his clothing no longer smelled, and his toiletries were still viable. All that was left was medication for motion sickness, something he just remembered now. He slapped his phone down on the bed, he needed to go out didn't he? He didn't have to out tonight per-say, after all the airship was scheduled to leave in the afternoon which would still leave him several hours to get it when he woke up in the morning. He could probably visit the pharmacy and get it in about 10 minutes, it wasn't like anything bad would happen if he stayed, right?

In the end it was his growling stomach that had convinced him to go. If he went to bed that hungry he wouldn't be able to sleep properly, and if he was going to out to eat he had might as well get the medication if there was any pharmacies still open at this time. Sadly but not exactly surprising, all the pharmacies were closed at this time. As he stepped out of a convenience store biting into the cheap sandwich he bought, he paused to look at the shattered moon. It seemed strange to him to be looking at it from the great city of Vale, the center of his kingdom, it wasn't the first time he saw it but there was a strange feeling to watching it from Vale rather than Sino. Strange and familiar.

' _HELP US! PLEASE HELP US!_ ' he heard an unknown voice scream in his mind, not at him but like it was something he would hear in the background of a Grimm invasion.

Why was he hearing that? He starred at the moon, feelings of dread washed over him, anguish, despair and more, a negative wave of hopelessness, helplessness and more he couldn't immediately identify. Something moved in his vision, he froze in absolute shock, no it couldn't be. It was impossible! Perched on one of the jagged edges of the moon was a _giant Grimm_ , one that looked like a _dragon_. He could tell it's was huge based on how large it appeared compared to the moon itself and it's size in his forced perspective. Questions screamed in his mind faster than he could register them and the voices and noise intensified. All going silent for one last phrase.

' _Goodbye Jaune._ '

Something crashed into him and he fell over. Looking up he saw 4 men in black suits, red ties and sunglasses. The same style that was worn by the thugs at _Junior's club_.

"It's you guys again!" Jaune yelled.

"It's one of the blond brats! Get him!' the one who crashed into him yelled back.

Jaune leaped up or at least intended to when he moved. Instead he practically flew back 10 meters, confused he focused his vision and saw them again. Ghostly arms, the same ones that had emerged to save him from death at the gates of Vale, then again at the club. Now they had emerged again to help him fight off the goons.

' _Huh. So they might only be able to emerge when I am in combat or facing immediate threats to my life._ ' he thought as he skidded on all fours to a halt.

3 goons went after him the moment he landed, he pushed himself to his feet as the first swing came at him. Jaune blocked it with both arms and retaliated with an elbow to the throat knocking him back to clutch his bruised windpipe. The second made a downward stabbing attack to his heart with a knife, Jaune pushed his left arm up, stopping the movement at the wrist, inches above his chest before delivering a punishing uppercut to his jaw. The thug flew several feet into the air as the fist of Jaune's stand delivered most of the force. Jaune side-stepped the 3rd thug as he kicked at him and delivered a resounding strike to his temple, knocking him into the second thug as he descended toward the ground. The 4th had finally gotten to his feet and pulled out a shape that expanded into a standard rifle from his suit.

"DIE YOU-" the rest of his sentence being cut off as his gun barked 3 times. Jaune gasped as the bullets whistled towards him.

The goon nearly fell over from the shock of what came next, the bullets _froze_ in mid air, inches away from Jaune's face while he looked at them with a bizarre calmness. The thug screamed as he emptied his gun's clip at Jaune, this time Jaune moved his arms to intercept. The goon gasped in horror when he saw that all the spent shots from his gun fell from the palm of Jaune's hands as he brought them up. He tried to take a step backwards but found he couldn't. His arms were shaking, but seemed locked in place. He felt something warm and wet slide down his leg as the _blond terror_ advanced towards him. The goon's face twisted into one of despair and he practically squeaked his pleas for mercy as he stared into cold blue eyes that promised certain death. He didn't see it, but he felt it.

He made a sound that sounded like a mix of screaming, moaning and anguish as pain engulfed his face. The fist that hit him left a deep and visible indentation as the force rippled through his head and neck, breaking his nose, upper and lower jaw while his front teeth flew away. He started gagging as the pain overwhelmed his mind and he slipped into unconsciousness, vaguely seeing something ghostly behind the boy he thought he could beat.

Jaune smiled as he looked over the men he so easily defeated. A confidence and pride as rare as a blue moon danced in his chest. They would live, although they would need to be in the hospital for a considerable amount of time, one more than the others. That hardly mattered to him though, he had figured more about his stand and how it worked. While he couldn't confirm it without a similar stand or an actual system to compare it to, he did know that it was fast, very fast. It had stopped dozens of standard dust bullets in mid air at close range, not only grabbing them but placing them in his hands while he brought them up in his own silly attempt to catch them without slowing time. It also seemed extremely powerful, it had knocked the man out with just 1 punch and broke his face as a result. That was with him intentionally holding it back as to not kill the shooter.

His face returned to a more neutral one as he looked back up to the moon. The Grimm he saw wasn't there, of course it wasn't there how would a Grimm get to space? How would it survive the cold vacuum when they could barely survive the cold tundras of Atlas? Whatever was going on it seemed to be tied to his stand, first the voices, now hallucinations? He doubted things could get any worse.

"Huh?" he blurted out as he felt his right hand twist behind his back.

He flailed and felt his left hand become snared at the wrist before it was twisted behind his back with his right hand. He screamed in pain and looked over his shoulder meeting _stern, green eyes_ of a _middle aged blond woman_ as she tightened a pair of what he guessed were handcuffs on his wrists. Any protest he would make were cut off when she applied more pressure to his wrists threatening to break them should he act out.

' _I'm screwed._ ' he couldn't help but think.

/==========================================================================================================/

 **Stand name: ?**

 **Destructive power; uncertain**

 **Speed; uncertain**

 **Range; uncertain**

 **Durability/staying; ?**

 **Precision; uncertain**

 **Development potential/Learning; ?**

 **User: Jaune Arc**

 **Abilities: Unknown**

/==========================================================================================================/

 **AN: Oh snap! Jaune's stand started to reveal itself properly. What will it be? I haven't decided yet. In part 7 of ' _Jojo's Bizarre Adventure_ ' Johnny's stand also started emerging in a similar manner until we got ' _Tusk_ ' in it's full form with him able to control it. I do plan to follow a similar method of development for his stand until it is fully revealed and Jaune is able to assert full control over it. How will he do it? Find out soon on ' _Jaune Arc's Bizzare Adventure_ '. **

**Also; Yes. The beginning segment was my take on the popular Jojo meme.**


	7. Chapter 7

Jaune huffed as he ran through Vale, his bags over his shoulders as he dodged civilians and vehicles alike. He was in a panic, how could he not be? He was released from the police station only an hour ago. He swore the lady behind the desk had purposely delayed his release form, while he was mostly clueless on how the police within Vale worked and the proper procedures needed to releasing someone from the holding cells, he was still fairly certain that -given that he was the only one their last night- it should have gone much quicker since the thugs he beat up last night were probably in the hospital.

He jumped off a bench and over a fence in one of Vale's parks ignoring the protest someone leveled at him as he sprinted through a bed of flowers. If he knew he would be arrested for brawling in the streets by a huntress, then he would have stayed in his room last night. And it wasn't just any huntress either, if the police officer who interrogated him was correct then she was _Glynda Goodwitch_ one of the teachers at Beacon academy and if she was going to be one of his teachers then she would remember him the moment she saw him in whatever class she would be teaching.

He wasn't exactly remarkable in description sure, but something about him always seemed to stay with people, especially women, even if the encounter was just a simple 'hello' as he walked by them. His sisters did tell him it was a good thing and practically ensured that it would help when he was looking for a wife in the future as the women he would be courting would remember and think of him more instead of whomever else was vying for their attention. Given how some girls were around him at times he could guess that it would help when he was looking to make a good impression, but it was not so good when his would-be teacher was stuffing him into a police van after a street fight.

He dashed around the next street corner and nearly slammed into a slow moving pedestrian, he twisted his body to avoid the collision at the last second, before spinning and landing head first into a car window. He bounced off and fell to the pavement as someone started yelling at him. He really hopped that nobody got a good look at his face, the last thing he needed was to be arrested by the police for a trumped up charge of vandalism or property damage the next time he came to Vale. He quickly scrambled to his feet and began running again, pushing himself to go as fast as his legs would carry him. He checked his pocket watch when he came across a mostly empty sidewalk by one of the highways.

' _Still 30 minutes left_.' he confirmed as he focused more and more of his will into slowing time.

As everything slowed more for him he thanked whatever god gave his this ability as he had fairly recently confirmed that as time slowed around him he still moved at relatively the same speed. Allowing him to move across districts in mere minutes instead of hours, if there were any side-effects to this gross abuse of his power he didn't much care for them at this point, it was either risk himself or risk loosing his enrollment chance. Given how much he wanted, no _needed_ , to be a huntsman he felt it was a worthwhile risk.

When his body was exhausted enough to force him to stop he opened his map and quickly confirmed his location, just a few more miles and he would be at the air strip.

As he pushed himself onward he cursed himself again for picking perhaps the worst time to go for a late night snack, if he refused to go out he would have avoided the street fight with the suited thugs which led to his overnight stay in a holding cell. Granted as far as holding cells went he was fairly certain that it wasn't so 'bad' as compared to what he expected it to be, the cot he slept on was roughly the same quality and size as the one at the cheap motel he was staying at. An officer gave him free food and drink while he waited to be released in the morning. And bizarrely enough he had met a weird _silver haired man_ with thin glasses, a fancy black suit over a green shirt who carried a strange _cane_ in one hand and an empty plate in the other. The strange man entertained him with a discussion about the philosophy of time for about an hour, coincidentally about an hour after Glynda first deposited him in the holding cell.

There was something about the man though, something innately strange, not just his behavior, it was the way he held and posed himself. He started off bizarrely by asking if Jaune knew about time, not what time it was then, but what time itself was. When Jaune was sufficiently confused the man entered the cell, sat down on a cot opposite him and started what in the end was an enlightening and equally bizarre conversation about time, its perception and the power behind it. While the contents were mostly confusing topics in relation to time itself Jaune couldn't help but engage the man in a deep conversation. In the end he had something interesting to distract him from the fact that he was in a holding cell for self-defense, even if the reason was because he went a little too far by using his stand.

/-/

Finally he made it to the air strip, he had quite literally ran from the police station, to his crappy motel then across Vale in less than an hour to get here. Just a little further and their would be nothing to stop him from getting his education at Beacon. As he entered the building attached to the docks of the airships he found another problem, one that in hindsight he probably should have checked on in advance since he spent most of the week wondering though vale. He stopped the first flight attendant he came across and said something unintelligible.

"I'm sorry?" she cautiously asked. Her expression changing to one of concern, likely for her own safety.

"Airship. Beacon. Where?" he managed between heavy breaths holding his ticket for her.

She cautiously took it and looked at it before replying "This is for loading Platform 5. You need to hurry to catch it. If you are not there in about 3 minutes you will miss it."

"How? I, still. Have time." he said pulling out, opening and pointing at his pocket watch's dial.

"The airship will depart in 17 minutes. Boarding time for the airship will close in about 3, after that they will not let you on board." The lady said.

He gagged on his next question and shoved his watch back into his pocket. Thankfully she seemed to understand what he was asking her and handed him back his ticket.

"Dock 5 is that way." she pointed out "It has a giant number by it, you cannot miss it."

"Thank-" he managed to say before coughing hoarsely.

"Go, and good luck." she said before he resumed dashing.

Color faded as he pushed himself onward, he felt the exhaustion of using his ability to this extent catching up to him. He did spend almost 45 real-time minutes rushing across Vale to get here, however it felt much, much longer as in a sense it was much, much longer, he had no idea how long he pushed himself as he ran but it felt appropriate to say it was at least 3 or 4 hours of near non-stop running. He focused his vision, trying to locate the sign, but there were too many people, too many faces in the way. As much as he tried to he couldn't stop himself from analyzing and reading their expressions. He practiced so much with it and so often that it had become an near-automatic response, almost like breathing.

A headache formed around his frontal lobe, it was too much, too distracting, reading each face was like having a conversation with that person, as he was surrounded by people each facial expression and pose giving him entire conversation's worth of information. The subtle changes as they moved, announced if they were happy, sad, anxious and more. He felt rude just ignoring them like he did, one of the first things that he was taught by his family and teachers was that it was rude to not respond when someone was trying to have a conversation with you, one of the first things Dio taught him was that reading a person's expression was akin to having a conversation without words. He bit back his desire to speak to them and forced himself into the present as he dashed to the side of the moving crowd and looked up.

 _'Platform 4'_ the glowing LED sign read. He was almost there, something caught his attention to his right and he looked. There was a growing number of faces that held expressions directed to him, some of concern, some of indifference, some of the smug satisfaction that they weren't in his situation. The more he watched the people many of whom had unguarded expressions the more his mind seemed to register what they were thinking.

 _'Someone's in a hurry.'_

 _'Did he miss his airship?'_

 _'What was that?'_

 _'It's a bit like that romance movie I saw.'_

 _'Speed semblance?'_

 _'What his problem?'_

 _'He's going to crash into something.'_

He chomped down on his tongue as hard as he could and the pain distracted him from the expressions of the people around him long enough to look up. Glowing in bright highlighted letters was the sign _'Platform 5'_ with it came an automated message distorted over the speaker by slow motion.

"Final boarding call for, Platform 5."

He began to lean towards his destination, just one more column to pass by and he would be home free. As he began shifting his weight he felt his left foot buckle at the ankle, he gasped and felt his joint collide with the ground before he fell. He slammed face first into the column and slid past the platform, unintentionally knocking people over as he went. He saw their faces in slow motion, faces of surprise and disbelief.

' _I'm sorry. I'm sorry_.' he internally pleaded as he slapped his hands on the floor to give it some traction while the friction provided by his right shoe caused him to slide into the crowd of people. Thankfully several of them noticed him and he only crashed into those too unaware or too slow to avoid him.

When he finally came to a halt he forced himself foreword ' _If this were a battle between 2 people then my stand would help me!_ ' he internally grumbled as he dashed foreword ignoring everything but his goal. He was almost there, just 5 or so more meters. He bit back a yelp as his left ankle protested against him and gave way forcing him to fall foreword as his right leg came foreword. He focused what was left of his ability, as much aura as he could and physical strength as he had into his right leg as he half jumped, half pushed himself the final few meters.

He flew through the air 1 meter, the face of the person checking tickets changed from one of shock to mild horror as he perceived what was a blond missile coming at him. He flew 2 meters, the distorted sounds of people gasping and awed by the bizarre and unexpected event began to reach his ears. He flew 5 meters, the ticket checker began instinctively twisting into a ball hopping his reduced size would make him harder to hit as Jaune forced his tickets into the man's hand as they curled shut. Jaune flew 6 meters, he entered the airship and people on board finished parting ways for him. He flew 7 meters he forced himself to twist through the air as he saw a trolley with white suitcases, next to it a gorgeous girl in white and suited men who saw and dodged him at the last second.

He finally landed 8 meters from his starting position, the luggage protested under his sudden weight as the trolley began to move from the sudden inertia and force applied from him, carrying him deeper into the airship. He rode 7 meters on the trolley, students jumped out of the way and it rolled unopposed. He rode a further 8 meters on the trolley, it slammed into one of the couch-like seats the airship had causing him to sail through the air again, thankfully nobody came in his way as his trajectory was set.

He flew 1 meter, he looked back and saw the end of the airship's passenger compartment and with it the comfortable couch that lined the walls between 2 doors and pulled his travel bag off his back. He flew 4 meters, he forced himself to lean foreword and was in a seating position as the couch met his back. His left elbow bounced off his knee and his fist lodged itself under the left side of his jaw, the dying inertia keeping it there and pinning his right hand below his left elbow as his right arm was thrown across his belly. His left leg lashed out meeting nothing but recoiling like a whip over his right knee as his right foot dug into the carpet enough to stop it from going further back.

Finally free of inertia he opened his eyes, his face felt numb, his throat was hurting him, his joints were sore, his legs felt like jelly and the suddenness of impacting his elbow to his knee and wrist had effectively shocked them into a form of partial paralysis. In front of him he saw all the other students watch him with expressions of shock, surprise, and in the case of the _cute Gothic Lolita_ standing now to his right, utter awe.

"That was sooo coooool!" she gushed, fists clutching the silver pins that kept her _red cape_ in place.

He made a soft 'hmm' sound as the pain of the landing finally caught up to his brain.

She made a soft moaning sound as she sat next to him "You are sooo coool."

He looked at her and smiled, she wore a wide smile, her mouth almost hanging open, her _silver eyes_ wide with awe as if anticipating him to do something even cooler while her fists were balled in front of her neck. She wore a black waist corset and black long-sleeved blouse with red trims over a frilly black skirt with Red tulle under it. Her black stocking clad legs were slightly apart unconsciously inviting him to get closer to her. She looked young, maybe she was one of those girls that appeared younger than she actually was, the one thing that he was certain of was that she looked adorable, and oddly familiar.

Whatever it was it could wait as the girl in white appeared before him, she wore a face of fury that hid underlines of surprise form earlier, she had a recognizable _crooked scar down her left eye_ , _white hair_ and strapless thigh length white dress that faded to a pale blue at the hem, with white tulle slightly visible from under the skirt. Matching it was a bell sleeved bolero with red lining on the inside. Even with her scowl he recognized her almost instantly, how could he not when he was a fan of hers. She was _Weiss Schnee_.

"You idiot! Do you realize what you could have done!?" she yelled.

He willed his face into a neutral one with an equally neutral smile as he watched her. "Have I harmed you in some way?" he casually asked.

It wouldn't do for him to let himself get belittled now, he was in a cool pose however unintentional, he had a fan girl currently enamored with him, who may very likely be his girlfriend in the future. And he had no doubt made an awesome impression on his peers by his crazy and accidental entrance. He couldn't afford to let it all go to waste by letting this girl talk down to him even if she was his idol and current dream girl.

"You!" She huffed and pointed at her suitcases "In those cases were some of the purest, highest quality dust the SDC can provide."

"Your point?" he purposefully raised an eyebrow, enough to hint he knew and it was no big deal.

She chocked a bit before barking "You could have killed us all!"

Jaune decided to pull something from Dio's handbook, the man radiated confidence and power like the sun radiated heat and light, if he could even manage a fraction of it then he might cow his idol into submission with confidence alone. After all, according to his dad confidence was all he truly needed when handling women.

' _Here goes nothing_.' he thought before asking "And how exactly would I, Jaune, manage to do such a thing?"

"You ignorant buffoon! Can you imagine the devastation that it would cause if even one vial detonated!?" she snapped back, getting more and more infuriated.

"I can see how that might be a problem for you Miss. Schnee. Not so much for me." He said with enough sarcasm to sting her pride, while the cutie next to him just gasped in awe. He didn't even need to look at her to know she was wondering just how powerful he was.

"You! YOU!" She stammered, face red, eyes filled with an undisputed rage, as her whole body straightened and stiffened.

She was about to burst, just a few more seconds and his position as a bad-ass would be secured in the minds of his peers. He just needed to keep this up and then in 4 years he could very well proudly return home a graduate huntsmen and likely introduce his future girlfriend, no, _fiancee_ to his family.

"Cool it, snowflake. I'll handle this." A familiar voice interjected just before Weiss could go ballistic.

Jaune's blood froze, his face almost automatically shifting to a neutral one. He remembered her now, his adorable fan girl, she was there with Yang after the bar fight.

"Miss Xiao-Long, how nice to meet you again." Jaune automatically said trying to keep his confident demeanor going as the blond nemesis gently pushed Weiss gently to the side.

"I see you're trying to work my _little sister_." she said as her eyes changed to a redder hue.

' _Oh crap_.' Jaune thought.

"Yang you never said how cool this guy was!" Ruby said darting her eyes between Jaune and her older, much more developed sister. "You just said he was some guy you met at the bar."

Yang made a hollow and fake sounding chuckle as she cracked her knuckles "Oh he is, he didn't even have the courtesy of calling me the morning after."

' _Poor choice of words_.' Jaune smiled as a few people reacted to this accordingly, many making their own assumptions about what they heard.

Yang's eye twitched as the realization caught up to her before she placed a hand on the segment of wall next to his head "This time you will tell me what I want to know and you will not get away from me."

He was in effect trapped there, his body was still numb from exhaustion while these girls were no doubt fresh and ready for anything. Yang especially, she had that confidence about her. Focused and ready, she was determined to win this time if a fight broke out. The expression on Weiss' face also shifted to a supportive one as she glared poison daggers at him. If he attacked she would help her new blond 'ally' against him. He didn't want to fight her as the rapier by her side was certainly not for show.

Any conflict here would be so one-sided it wasn't even worth thinking otherwise and if he was to salvage his current position of total bad-ass at least in the eyes of the cute little sister and whomever else was now interested in him, he had to make a last desperate attempt. If he was reading the situation correctly -and he was certain that he was- all it would take was 1 final phrase to light the powder keg in his favor.

"Don't worry, this time I'll take you to dinner before I show you my moves and make you scream louder than you did before." he smugly smirked with as much suggestion as he could hint at.

Weiss stepped back slightly her expression changing to tell him that she would not get involved in what she now believed to be a lover's quarrel, while looking at him like as if he were a disgusting pig. He couldn't blame her, he exploited Yang's earlier mistake and implied that he was some kind of playboy who was currently intimate with her. Even so this reaction was far better than Yang's who responded just as he had wanted.

With a fist to his face.

 **AN: With this we basically come to the end of the pre-Beacon arc of the story. Hopefully I can keep up the updates at a consistent rate, if not please don't hate me. Writing for Beacon is proving more difficult than I anticipated it to be. Until next time, this is NoobSib0t signing off.**


	8. Chapter 8

"I'm really sorry about Yang, she just like that sometimes." The girl who introduced herself as _Ruby Rose_ said to him.

"That's alright, it was kind of my fault anyway." Jaune said.

While that was technically true, by forcing Mt. Yang to erupt into a punching, angry, mess after implying she was a miffed lover in front of everyone on the airship he in effect broken up her unofficial alliance with his idol _Weiss Schnee_ and ensured that she was still capable of becoming an ally, friend or more despite her current hostility towards him. Thankfully the cute girl had elected to take responsibility for her older sister's actions and tried to nurse his injuries with whatever she could find on board the airship.

"I assure you not all the woman in my family are crazy like that." Ruby said pouring just enough alcohol onto a paper towel to dampen it.

"And how many women are in your family?" he asked, family was -usually- a safe topic to talk about.

"Just me and Yang. I think I have a cousin or two somewhere but I don't know them." She said dabbing the damp towel where Yang's fist met his face. "What about you?"

"I live with my mom and seven sisters." He smirked as total surprise spread across her face.

"Seven?" She gasped, "Are some adopted or something?"

"Nope." he casually responded with a smile.

"Well, that's-" she started. "I'm going to get some ice for your head." she continued before she got up to leave.

He smiled as he heard her whisper 'wow, seven.' before looking around. He guessed that he was in one of the fancier passenger compartments reserved for wealthier clientele and other 'exclusive' personnel. After the airship staff and several volunteers pried Yang's fists of his face they offered to upgrade his flight to a better class and to his distinct pleasure he found Weiss there. She refused to acknowledge him, but he knew she was listening as she pretended to read an airship magazine. Before he could initiate another conversation with her Ruby came back with a pack of ice.

"So how come your aura didn't protect you?" Ruby asked.

Oh right, that. "I was running late and had to use my aura and semblance to get here on time. I guess I use up a little too much of it." While the details eluded him he was certain that he got the basics correct.

"Well how far did you run?" she asked.

"Pretty far." He opened his map and pointed to the location of his crappy motel, "I started here then-" he traced his finger across the route he took, which was the most straight foreword route "-ended at the air strip." tapping his finger on it's location on the map.

"Oh, how long did that take you?" she asked.

"It took me less than 45 minutes." He didn't have any actual estimates for how long he had slowed time or even how much he had slowed it as he dashed towards the airstrip, so he went with the amount of time it took to get here in the 'conventional' manner.

' _Why was time manipulation and everything that came with it so hard?_ ' he wondered as Ruby gawked at him.

"That's amazing! Is your semblance super-speed?" Ruby asked.

"Yep. At least I think it is." He half-lied.

He felt conflicted about deceiving Ruby like that. While Dio did teach him the importance of lying and the benefits of keeping his true power a secret, even from his closest allies citing that they could potentially turn on and easily defeat you by coming up with ways to counter you. His mother had taught him to always be honest, citing that people always appreciate honesty in friendships, relationships of all kinds and more. Over time he learned to use a mix of the two philosophies and found that by giving people half truths he could get away with more than if he was being completely honest or completely deceptive, which in the end suited him just fine.

"MINE TOO!" she squealed startling him out of his thoughts.

She leaned in a little closer to him placing her hands on the couch to support herself. Her eyes blazed with a determination he had rarely seen in any other person, while she smiled at him.

"Hey listen. I know it's sudden but." She started, fidgeting slightly while a blush crossed her cheeks.

A hope blossomed in the back of his head and he focused his ability to analyse expressions on her as much as he could. He examined her looking for all the tell-tale signs; focused but nervous eyes? Check. Expressions of desire? Check. Slight fidgeting and other nervous ticks that told him she knew what she wanted but wasn't sure how to ask for it? Check. Hundreds of other little signs across her body and face that said that she wanted some form of intimacy with him? Checked in spades.

Could she be doing it? Could it be happening? The fabled event most guys dreamed about? Something that only appeared in the various medias? Was this cute girl about to ask him to be her boyfriend and not the other way around?

"I am wondering-" she started.

' _Yes?_ ' he smiled at her.

"-will you be-" she continued.

' _YES!_ ' his face seemed to grow brighter.

"-my best friend?" she concluded.

' _NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!_ ' his mind screamed drowning out all other thoughts.

"Sure." He said, his smiling face becoming a plastic one.

"Oh thank the gods, when I heard that I was going to Beacon I was nervous, I thought that-"

The sound of his mind crying and the internal despair that he was now officially in the dreaded _'friend zone'_ -again- had in effect drowned her out. He continued to look at her with his plastic smile, giving the impression that he was paying attention.

' _WWWHHHHYYYYYYYY?_ ' his lower lizard brain called out to him.

He felt the despair and anguish of it flow through him, although the part of his mind that tried to be comforting told him that he was in a better position than he normally would be in because he was this girl's ' _best_ -friend' rather than ' _friend_ -friend'. Which if he was correct meant more benefits than most normal friends got. Who knew, maybe he would be able to escape the friend zone and become this girl's boyfriend in time. In the end he supposed it was extremely stupid to expect her to ask him out after knowing him for less than an hour.

' _Oh well I can still hope, wait what is she saying?_ ' he thought

"-but I don't have to worry about any of that now that you're my best friend." she concluded with a smile.

"Of course. I won't promise anything but I will try my best." he said, wishing he paid even the slightest attention to what she was saying.

"Really?" she squealed "Oh thank you so much!" she said hugging him.

"Yeah. You're welcome." he responded hugging her back.

' _Well when all is said and done I guess this isn't so bad_.' he thought.

/-/

' _This is terrible_.' his mind complained as the effects of his motion sickness took over his body again.

"Jaune are you alright in there?" Ruby called from outside the bathroom he had barricaded himself in.

"Just give me a minute." he called splashing hot water on his face.

' _I look terrible._ ' he critiqued as he looked at himself in the mirror.

While thankfully he wasn't puking his guts out like last time he did look paler and upon closer inspection apparently more gaunt. He groaned and slapped his cheeks a little forcing enough color into them to help hide whatever gaunt features he had. Looking over his reflection he judged himself presentable enough to appear in front of everyone. Another benefit to living with 8 women was that he knew how and what he needed to do to make himself presentable at any time for anyone. Even Dio had praised him one or twice on his dedication to appearances, or at least he believed it was praise.

"Uh Jaune, you might want to stay in there a bit longer." Ruby hoarsely whispered as he unlocked the door.

He opened the door "Why, what cou- uh, oh."

"So Jaune, care to continue where we left off?" his nemesis and best friend's older sister asked, staring him dead in the eyes.

' _OH CRAP! HOW DO I GET_ _OUT OF THIS?_ ' his mind screamed.

He smiled and struck a pose, 1 leg crossed across the another while he leaned onto the door frame. His left forearm being pointed upward while his hand horizontally gripped his chin, his right placed on his hip while he smiled at her.

"Oh certainly Miss Xiao-Long, I am eager to start whenever you are." To his surprise she giggled then placed both her hands behind her back in a manner that pushed her large and ever so temping chest towards him.

"That's wonderful. I am so glad we are going to Beacon together." She paused to lean in close and whisper in his ear "Where I get to pay you back in full for earlier."

"OK! I-" He nearly jumped back.

"Great, see you then." she interrupted before walking off, smiling and almost skipping away as if something good had just happened.

He looked around, the few people who were paying attention to them did have various expressions varying from admiration to some form of disappointment on their faces. Though Weiss had a knowing smirk on her face, the rest seemed convinced the two had made up after their earlier and very public spectacle, probably thinking she apologized to him without actually saying 'I'm sorry for punching you'. He didn't think his blood couldn't get any colder, she knew how to play the social game, and apparently she knew how to do it well too. Rather than try and fight the insinuation that they were in some kind of relationship, she embraced it and all but promised to use it against him.

"So. You and Yang huh?" Ruby asked, clearly not hearing the threat her older sister made against him.

"Yeah, me and Yang." he said without properly thinking.

"Hey uh, you look a little gaunt." she said finally taking a moment to look at him.

"I'm not so good with airships." He honestly told her, after that encounter he didn't think he would ever be again.

/-/

Fortunately the terror of what his 'girlfriend' might do to him at Beacon was enough to effectively cure his motion sickness for the remainder of the flight while his mind scrambled for ways to escape or avoid what will inevitably become a big issue for him. He let out a low whine as he stepped out of the airship while a voice in the side of his head yelled ' _If you told her what you knew of that woman instead of panicking and fighting her. You wouldn't be in this mess!_ '

"Jaune, are you feeling better?" his loyal companion asked as she stepped off the airship.

"Just. Happy to be on the ground." He said trying not to alert ruby to his internal distress.

She zoomed in front of him, effectively startling him "Look I don't know, or want to know the specifics between you and Yang, but if you hurt her in any way I will not be merciful." She said with a scowl that just made her look bizarrely adorable rather than any form of intimidating as she poked a finger at his chest plate "And don't think that being my best friend will save you from my wrath or that of my dad and uncle."

"Uh, what do your dad and uncle do exactly?" Jaune cautiously asked.

"Their both huntsmen, really good huntsmen." She responded proudly.

"Uh, how good, exactly?" he asked, trying to hide the fear he anticipated from the answer.

"Well my uncle teaches at signal academy and my dad does all kinds of work." she quickly perked up and tried scowling even more at him before continuing "They also really love Yang and were on the same team together here at Beacon so they know how to work together."

"That's great." he said, the fear of what 2 experienced and highly trained huntsmen would do to him paralyzing any and all other thought processess.

"Great, now do you know where we need to go?" she asked satisfied she had 'warned' him enough.

"I uh, think we go with the rest of the people." he said.

"Great! Let's go!" Ruby said pulling him by the hand forward.

He smiled, he couldn't fault her enthusiasm, this was Beacon academy. An institute where hundreds applied and only a handful got in. To get invited to initiation alone was an accomplishment worthy of many huntsmen. To pass meant that you were the best of the best, you had to be as there were only 3 other institutes world wide that offered the same level of education and training. Shade in Vacuo, Haven in Mistral, and Atlas which shared it's name with the kingdom. Out of all of them Beacon was his first choice with Haven being a close second as Shade was located in a desert and Atlas in the arctic. He smiled as he looked around at what he hopped and prayed would be his home for the next 4 years. It's castle like architecture, lush gardens, open courtyards, imposing tower and more made it appear to be more like a fortress from legend than a place of learning. It was so full of life, so energetic, and so, _bleak_?

The setting had changed to one more dark and dreary than before. Beacon had _fallen_ , it was in ruins with all life gone, what had once been magnificent and decorative arches were now broken columns. The well maintained gardens lifeless as not even the grass seemed to be able to grow. The courtyards where people would sit, socialize and relax had suffered tremendous damage and instead of inviting seemed more like grave warnings. Where students and other staff members once walked were various Grimm, he looked up, the shining tower of beacon that offered guidance to all was now a partially collapsed mess. Something moved in his vision, it came from the nearby forest, it was something he couldn't quite see from here, but it approached Beacon.

"Hey Jaune! Remnant to Jaune! HEY JAUNE!" Ruby yelled at him.

"Huh what?" He said, looking around.

Everything was back to normal, the architecture was in pristine condition, the gardens were full and well maintained. The tower was intact and instead of Grimm there were students milling about. Another hallucination, he realized.

"You spaced out. You sure you're alright?" Ruby asked.

"I, uh-" he began.

What the hell was he supposed to say? ' _I am having hallucinations where we are all probably dead, Beacon is in ruins and their are Grimm everywhere_.'

That wouldn't do at all, he met Ruby only a couple hours ago and didn't want her to think he was mentally unstable or something. He pointed towards the nearby forest, despite the distance and all the architecture in the way he could still see the tops of the trees in the distance.

"-thought I saw a giant _Boarbatusk_ over there." he concluded with a winning smile, trying to ignore the offended scoff a dark haired faunus girl with long curved tusks made.

"I don't see anything." Ruby said focusing her vision at the forest and not the girl in the same general direction.

He put an arm over her and began pulling her to the side "Well it's gone now and I-"

His mouth involuntarily opened and his eyes crossed over his nose as something hard with plenty of force behind it met with his testicles. He made a wheezing sound and fell foreword twisting to see what hit him. It was the faunus girl with the tusks, she stood behind him at optimum kicking distance with the foulest expression on her face.

"I am not fat, or a Boarbatusk." she declared staring down at him.

"Ok." he managed to wheeze.

"I have a healthy body type and shape." she continued, her eyes drilling holes into him.

"Yes. You are a strong, beautiful, and extraordinary young woman capable of so much and I am sorry to insinuate otherwise." he almost pleaded, silently thanking his sisters for giving him 'pointers' on what women generally wanted to hear.

Satisfied the girl walked off leaving Ruby to pull him to his feet.

"What was that about?" she silently asked, apparently fearing the girl was still in hearing range.

"She thought I was talking about her." Jaune whispered to her.

"Really?" Ruby quietly asked before taking a quick peak over her shoulder.

"Well, she is kinda fat." she silently giggled as she practically dragged him to what he hopped was the infirmary.

/-/

After recovering sufficiently enough to walk on his own the two delved into a discussion about Ruby's favorite topic; weapons. It proved to be interesting as not only did she explain the intricacies of her beloved weapon _Crescent Rose_ , but also how she hopped to modify it in the future. He in turn talked about his sword and the history behind it, being sure the embellish the facts a little to make his unmodified and frankly mundane sword seem more interesting compared to the self-proclaimed weapons geek's bizarre sniper rifle-scythe. This continued until they heard the call for all first years to make their way to the open-aired auditorium over Beacon's PA system. After asking for directions and getting lost twice they finally made it to their destination. After finding a place to stand Jaune saw a familiar face enter onto the stage.

"Hey I know that guy." he said.

"Oh, you know _headmaster Ozpin_?" Ruby asked.

"Wait. Headmaster!?" he nearly yelled into her face.

"Yeah, you didn't know?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"No. I met him one and thought he was a detective or something." he said.

"Really? When did you meet him?" Ruby asked.

"Last night, after I was taken to the, police, station." he awkwardly said.

"Me. Too." Ruby replied equally awkwardly.

The silence between them was terrible and led to equally unwelcome insinuations that they were both juvenile delinquents.

"Lets, never talk about this again." He said trying to make things less awkward.

"Yeah, that's probably best." she said, accepting his solution with an awkward smile.

"Ahem. I'll keep this brief." Their headmaster began.

True to his word the speech was short and ridiculously blunt. In the course of 30 seconds the headmaster managed to call everyone present unguided fools in need of proper experience and determination as any and all past training practically meant nothing now that they were in Beacon. After the speech the headmistress took his place and ordered them to assemble in the ballroom at night while scanning the crowd. He nearly winced when her gaze passed over him and stood perfectly still, not even daring to breath out of fear that she would react to him or give some indication of recognition or worse hostility. He however fared better than Ruby who took the opportunity to hide behind him, apparently thinking that if she hid behind someone larger than her she would be exempt from the soul piercing glare Glynda seemed to give. Her shiver as Glynda's gaze passed over them said otherwise.

"Ruby are you ok?" he asked when the headmistress left.

"I'm fine. Is the scary lady gone?" Ruby asked.

"Yep, she's gone." Jaune confirmed.

She forced a gap between his right arm and torso then peeked out from it. Once convinced that she was safe she finally stopped clinging to him and moved to his side.

"So, was it just me or did the headmaster seem 'off' to you?" Ruby asked.

"What do you mean?" Jaune asked ' _it seemed more like he was insulting us._ ' went unsaid.

"I don't know but it seemed like he wasn't entirely there, ya know what I mean?" A new voice asked as a hand clasped around his shoulder.

Ruby made an 'eep' sound while he turned to see his current nemesis smiling dangerously as she tightened her grip on both of them ensuring that they wouldn't escape.

"But enough about that, lets talk about the two of you being taken to the police station." Yang said, while Ruby tried and failed to get away.

' _help me._ ' Ruby mouthed to him as Yang carried them away, probably towards their doom.

 **AN: Oh poor Jaune how I torment thee. Finally he arrives at Beacon after a short and perilous journey full of non-Grimm dangers. What bizarre antics and adventures await him here? How will he and Ruby survive Yang's interrogation? How will his tutelage under Dio affect his stay at Beacon? Find out soon enough on ' _Jaune Arc's Bizarre Adventure_ '.**


	9. Chapter 9

"Now why don't you tell me why you were taken to the police station?" Yang demanded as she looked down on the both of them.

It made sense for her to demand information like that as they had accidentally let slip that they were arrested the night before and Yang naturally wanted to know exactly who her little sister was friends with. Although he probably should have known it would be like this when she told them she was looking for an empty classroom or similar place as they were carried away. He opened his mouth to answer but Ruby beat him to it breaking down in a panic, protesting her innocence while claiming she was stopping a robbery hopping it would somehow make her sister less angry than however she thought Yang was.

' _Now's my chance!_ ' he realized when Yang turned her back to him.

He quietly got off his chair and tip-toed to the door, internally thanking Ruby for providing the best distraction currently available to him. He squealed as he felt something grab his hood and pull him back causing him to flail unexpectedly.

"Where do you think you're going?" Yang asked as she pulled him in front of him.

"Somewhere other than here. Naturally." He said trying to resist the rising urge to punch her.

"Oh? You're not going anywhere until I get what I want." She declared.

"Get out of my way Yang, do not make me hurt you." he warned.

"Ruby, why don't you leave us for a bit." Yang ordered causing Ruby to zoom away.

' _That's interesting_.' he noted as he saw rose petals in the wake of Ruby's trail.

"Hey, pay attention to-." Yang started but was interrupted as something she didn't see striked her.

Jaune smiled as his stand merged back into his arm, realizing to his distinct pleasure that his stand had activated and struck Yang for him. He shifted his stance slightly, he had to thank Yang for bringing him here, an empty classroom like this was the perfect spot for an unrestricted fight. It was isolated from the student body who would no doubt draw the attention of Miss Goodwitch or any of the other staff members who in turn would stop them almost immediately leaving everyone unsatisfied and would prompt Yang to corner him again first chance she got.

"Oh, you're going to pay for that." she said as she popped her nose straight, eyes blazing red while her gauntlets expanded.

Normally he would have apologized for that and do his best to de-escalate the situation but given the way she treated him since they met he figured she deserved it, he found he wanted, no _craved_ this and Yang had provided him the perfect opportunity for the fight he desired so much.

He gracefully moved out of the way as color faded allowing him to effortlessly dodge Yang's meteorite strike, giving the impression that it was a near miss and focused his vision on her as she spun around to face him. Her eyes had a degree of deep focus and seemed to forget everything else as they locked onto him, her face bare save a slight scowl as her gaze traced his movements looking for a weakness. Apparently finding none she went with her normal tactic of trying to pummel him into submission. He almost pitied her, in the color drained world around him she appeared to move slowly almost sluggishly for him allowing him all the time he needed to dodge or retaliate each of her strikes.

' _This is good practice_.' Jaune couldn't help but think as he allowed time to speed up enough for the strikes to come closer to hitting their mark forcing him to put more effort into dodging, only for him to dodge at the last second enraging her further.

Taking a few 'moments' to study her attack patterns he seemed to notice her attacks becoming less organized and wild the more he enraged her. She had unintentionally revealed a glaring weakness in her fighting ability, she would get more frustrated and loose more of her composure and co-ordination the more he dodged her, something he could easily exploit this to the fullest. As she swung again he adjusted his head slightly one more time allowing the no doubt devastating blow to miss him by only millimeters, smiling as her face twisted further in anger before willing time to slow down again and strike at her face with all the strength he could.

After she recoiled he took a few steps back and analysed Yang's expressions, if he was right about her than after her composure should nearly be broken, unless she took a moment to compose herself she would become little more than a feral unthinking beast attacking him only because her pride, rage or some delusion promising a chance of victory demanded that she not back down until either she was victorious, incapacitated or worse.

To his surprise he found Yang's composure had already broken as her face had twisted into one of absolute hate and anger as almost all the muscles around her mouth, nose and eyes had bulged and contracted noticeably as her expression promised to deliver retribution of almost godly proportions from the frustration of not being able to hit him. The anger of evidently being used like a toy for his amusement as well as the fact that she evidently believed -correctly- that he did not think she was a threat. He had a momentary lapse in concentration as her face matched the bandit lady from Mythbay almost perfectly causing a bizarre sense of deja vu, for a split second he was back at Mythbay facing her again in the ruined store as she came swinging at him with her blood-red katana. He reached for his shield as Yang closed the distance and swung her attack into his unprepared guard.

"Muda!" he yelled out as his left arm reflexively spun around and pushed Yang's fist harmlessly away from his body at the last second as his shield followed suit to smack her across the face while still in it's sheath form. The force of the impact rippled through her aura as she twisted her body to give her next strike the extra force she wanted. His vision of her was blocked a second later when his stand's arm materialized and reached out to press the button on his sheath expanding it into it's shield form causing it fly off his arm into the space between the two. Fearing an unexpected attack he darted to the side just as Yang pushed the shield aside leaving her flank exposed to him, he responded by slamming both fists down between her shoulder blades causing her to slam her fist into the chalkboard decimating it.

He cautiously stepped foreword, picking up his shield as Yang didn't seem to move from her partially hunched pose, cautiously reaching for her he lurched backwards as Yang unexpectedly grabbed his shield with one hand and pushed her fist into his guard. He brought his other arm up as Yang's fist came down upon his breast plate. Twisting his block to allow the extra power provided by Yang's muscles to cause her fist to slide off his forearm without doing too much damage to his aura, he winced as the initial force still rippled through his limb dissipating across his arm and body knocking him off his feet and into the desks and chairs of the classroom.

"MUDA!" he yelled out as the arm of his stand materialized to punch her in the jaw as he blocked her and smiled as she recoiled. As he got to his feet he took note of Yang using one hand to wipe blood from her lip and the other tensing up ready to deliver the pain she hopped to deliver.

' _It's having a visible effect._ ' he realized as a sense of satisfaction blossomed across him, in response he pulled out his sword from the sheath part of his shield in a way that seemed unnecessarily dramatic but cool.

Yang screamed as she rushed straight at him, he responded by slashing horizontally at her shoulder which she blocked with her left gauntlet. She countered by slamming her shotgun gauntlet into his shield which later he would claim he took like an tank or a Goliath. He smiled and twisted his sword trying to catch her across the throat forcing her to blocked by moving her arm and shift to keep her balance. His leg twisted outward catching her by the back of the knee knocking her off balance, seeing his plan work he willed time to a near halt and let go of both his shield and sword. As she began tumbling in slow motion, his shield and sword falling just as slowly with her as he brought his hands into a standard boxing stance inhaling sharply in a way that made a sharp almost whistling sound.

"MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA!"

He roared over and over as he pummeled her over and over and over at what to him was a normal and comfortable speed, but to her was probably faster than light as she barely moved a centimeter in any direction before he finished. He smiled and moved out of the way as time sped up enough for her to fall backwards and tumble to the podium where the professor would lecture their students from.

"3, 2, 1." he methodically counted.

True to his prediction Yang tore the podium from the floor and threw it at him, he willed time to slow down enough for him to dodge then retaliate by rushing up to her and slamming the pommel of his blade over her head. As he backed up he smiled smugly challenging her to attack him again if she dared as she wore a face of unfathomable fury while her hair seemed to resemble a bonfire, her eye twitched once and she leapt towards him.

' _An all or nothing gamble_.' he realized ' _She's on her last legs_.'

Feeling confident in his victory he didn't even bother to move as the flaming berserker closed the distance, the right arm of his stand emerged for a split second to deliver a strike to her gauntlet directing it upwards. His right hand twitched as pain exploded through his knuckles into his wrist before something else moved in his vision and Yang was sent flying past him into the desks on the other side of the classroom. He slowly and methodically turned as Yang struggled to pull herself up, one hand clutching her lower back, something was not right here she was visibly injured despite the protections offered by her aura and yet her stand had not revealed itself. He walked into punching range again and she twisted, flying off her feet as his stand took another swing at her.

' _Does she not know how much danger she is in? Where is her stand?_ ' the more he wondered the more paranoid he gotten.

Despite the confusion he couldn't help but smile as Yang tried and failed to fend him off, with his stand he had surpassed her in speed and strength, when she tried to get some distance to recuperate he slowed time down and closed the distance. Each of her strikes had missed their mark, thanks in no small part to his ability to slow time while he and his stand hit her over and over. This wasn't a fight, it wasn't even remotely challenging anymore, he didn't even need to move as his stand did all the work for him which Yang either couldn't see or chose not to respond to. That made no sense, if she was a stand user like every _real_ opponent he had since leaving Sino than it would have either shown itself to try to protect it's master or he would have seen it when he focused his vision on her. That was unless of course she _didn't_ have a stand. He paused his onslaught and willed time to a near halt, focusing his vision on anything that might resemble a stand, the more he examined her physical form and recounted what little he knew of her the more he was forced to conclude that she indeed did not have a stand to call her own, that or it had not awakened fully yet.

He couldn't help but smile as he dodged her next attempt at an attack and responded to her foolishness with a strike from his stand at full force breaking though the protection provided by her aura and sending her several meters away from him. She got up and started a new swing before almost freezing midway as almost all color in the room faded away. He couldn't help but admire her determination, even with a broken aura she was still coming at him, not realizing that all the next strike would kill her.

' _The fool_.' he thought.

With the power of his stand he would no doubt become the top student in combat class. His stand could easily punch at strengths far exceeding that of any steroid-jacked person, his ability to slow down time gave him the ability to react to anything his opponent would try and do while the 'speed' gained from it allowed him to both avoid and retaliate. He hefted his sword onto his shoulder, despite all this people like Yang still dared to defy his superiority and needed to be taught their place. He casually walked until he was in front of her, her rage filled eyes meeting his even in the nearly stopped time.

' _Nobody will stand against me, nobody will make fun of me, nobody will surpass me._ ' he thought as he swung his sword towards Yang's neck intent on ending her sad annoyance of an existence once and for all, then probably mounting her head somewhere as an example to others.

' _NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!_ ' a familiar voice suddenly yelled out in his head bringing with it a bizarre sense of motion sickness and despair. He froze just before the swing could connect as color rapidly returned to the world around him, Yang gasped as the edge of his sword kissed her neck causing her to freeze up involuntarily. Almost by reflex he slammed the pommel of his blade into the side of her head recoiling a bit as his stand emerged one last time to add the force necessary to knock her out.

 _/===Yang Xiao-Long temporarily retired_ ===/

As she collapsed he folded his shield, sheathed his sword in it then hosting his weapon at his side. He paused to look at his right hand and clutch it with his left hand. It was sore from bare knuckle boxing and the feedback he had gotten from his stand but that was not what concerned him. He had nearly _killed_ her and he was going to enjoy it too, in that moment she wasn't Yang, she wasn't a person, she was merely an annoyance to be killed without remorse or a second thought like one of the many insects that flew around his face before he crushed them between his palms. This went beyond mere adrenaline highs, mere instinct reflexes, or the nerves and ticks that may come from getting into a fight. It was a drive to commit _cold-blooded murder_ and move on with is goals as if the act itself were something as simple and relatively meaningless as eating a loaf of bread for breakfast. That wasn't him or at least he hopped it wasn't, it was something only a monster would think and/or enjoy. This fight wasn't life threatening, it wasn't kill or be killed, even then he did not seek to murder his opponent with that disregard for life.

"What have you done!" a voice yelled out.

He turned his head suddenly as fear rippled through him almost instantly only for it to dissipate when he saw that it was Ruby who spoke.

"You destroyed the classroom!" she barked at him.

"Well that's-" he started hopping that his eyes wouldn't betray his sudden inner turmoil as he tried to read her expression.

Ruby was looking at him with a face he couldn't quite recognize while she walked up to him, she wasn't smiling, nor was she flustered and didn't seem shocked, although he couldn't be sure if she wasn't angry at him or not. A moment later he realized something worrying, he couldn't read her expression. It was one thing to miss-read her expression and interpret it as something contrary to how she feeling at the time, but at that moment he was deaf and dumb to any and all the signals, signs and more, both conscious and unconscious that hinted at what she was feeling, thinking and more.

He wasn't sure if it was caused by the mental shock that came with nearly killing Yang in cold blood and hopped that whatever it was would pass quickly and that he would still be able to accurately read expressions soon enough. He glanced back to Ruby who had went to check on Yang before getting up to look at him with a face he thought was one of calmness or apathy. Did she think he was some kind of monster since he had nearly killed her sister and would laugh about it if he did? Would ether of the sisters come to that conclusion due to his bizarre lapse in control? He wasn't sure how much of the fight Ruby saw and hopped that whatever it was that she did see wasn't his apparent joy at the prospect of murder.

He winced as another jolt of pain shot from his wrist. He was an idiot, in combat he was exceeding at the physical part of it but apparently was lacking the discipline and willpower needed to maintain control of himself. He needed to improve those or risk loosing himself to another murderous state and potentially kill his future allies for nothing else than the good feeling that may come from it. It seemed like it was also necessary to controlling his stand as well as it knocked Yang out rather than outright kill her because he willed himself and by extension it to do so, if he couldn't improve then it would only appear and do whatever it wanted rather than what he wanted it to do. Thankfully it was currently content to appear whenever he perceived himself to be in extreme danger so he did not have to worry about it just yet. He also guessed that a stronger will would also help him potentially resist any non-physical attacks from other semblances or stands, perhaps helping him to resist the voices and hallucinations that seemed to be getting worse and worse as time passed by, even though that was video-game logic it still seemed to hold a merit to his real life situation.

"We need to clean up and get out of here before someone comes in." Ruby said returning his focus to reality.

Only then did he notice the extend of the damage they caused. The wall Yang's fist slammed into had the remains of the chalkboard scattered at it's base with the majority of the structure behind it broken revealing the electrical wiring and other supports that made the architectural skeleton and the veins of the building. The desks and seats they had crashed through were all completely destroyed being little more than wood ships and strips of wood held together by synthetic fabric where the floor they were on seemed warped by the heat of Yang's hair or something like his stand punching it into a shape that would do less harm to him when he landed on it. The podium Yang threw had broken through the door to the classrooms back room fully exposing it's contents which were demolished beyond his current ability to identify them.

"How do you expect to clean this up?" he barked and gestured to the whole room "Do you have some ability to alter time or restore everything?"

"No but we can remove any and all traces of our involvement." she said with a smile he couldn't properly read.

"Yeah, we probably should." he responded with an awkward smile. He did not want to find out what would happen if any of the staff learned they had an unsanctioned fight on Beacon's property and practically destroyed a whole classroom when they weren't technically students yet.

/-/

He sighed blissfully as Ruby finished stuffing Yang's unconscious form in her sleeping bag in the still empty ballroom. For what seemed like the thousandth time he checked for cameras and the wandering eyes of whomever may be passing by, even though they had avoided all those 'threats' all the way from the classroom to here he still didn't feel safe. It was still relatively early in the evening and the others hadn't taken to retiring here for the night just yet, allowing Ruby to claim a corner for herself and Yang.

"How is she?" he asked ' _Please be alive still_.' his mind echoed.

"She'll be fine, nothing a good night's sleep can't fix." Ruby responded.

"You seem awfully cavalier about this." he said.

"I know my sister, I've seen her take worse hits. Besides it's not like you intended to kill her or something." Ruby responded.

He felt a chill run down his spine at that comment "No, no. I didn't."

"It would be nice if we could take her to the infirmary though." Ruby said looking at Yang who to anyone else appeared to have decided to go to bed early and was fast asleep.

"Yeah it would." he commented offhand.

"If we did though, they would start asking questions, probably write a report or something then Miss Goodwitch would know." she shuddered at the name "Once she finds out what happened to Yang, she would then find out what happened in that classroom and we would get expelled or something."

That fear of what might happen to them as a result of their confrontation had forced his co-operation in this harebrained scheme. Ruby would likely be given a relatively minor punishment because she tried to cover up the whole incident while he and Yang would probably be forced to leave Beacon or worse. In light of that Ruby's plan to cover up their involvement and pray the staff never learned the truth had seemed the better choice even if it came with the constant fear that they would be discovered and ousted at any moment.

"All this because she wanted to know more about some raven haired woman." he sighed leaning back on the wall.

"Oh, her." Ruby said, apparently knowing something he didn't. "I can't believe she dragged you into her crusade."

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"That's not really important now. I'll talk to her and try and get her to leave you alone. In the meantime can you tell me what you know about her. I will tell Yang when wakes up and it would help smooth things over if I can tell her something she doesn't know."

He sighed and told her everything he knew and saw in regards to the woman being sure to exclude his apparent time slowing powers. If it would get Yang off his back once and for all he had might as well tell Ruby everything. If the information came from Ruby than it would likely guarantee that Yang dropped the subject and stopped harassing him. Once she was satisfied with the extent his knowledge he asked why the woman was so important to Yang and literally fainted when Ruby told him that the woman who tried to murder him in Mythbay was named _Raven Branwen_ , Yang's estranged mother.

 **AN: I have been building up to this. I have methodically planned this. Surprisingly, several of you were craving this. And I have delivered the fight we all wanted since chapter 5; Jaune vs. Yang! Will it have consequences and what will come of it? Find out in later chapters of _Jaune Arc's Bizarre Adventure_.**


	10. Chapter 10

Not by choice Jaune found himself once again in the private realm as the new information continued to process and spark riots in his brain, despite his internal turmoil he forced an expression of calmness as he made his way to the table where Dio sat. Once he was calm enough he took his spot at the table electing to ask Dio for help or advice regarding his stand despite what he described as a lack of proper headway with it.

"Good evening Dio." he began.

"It appears as though you had made it to your destination Jaune." Dio simply stated, either bored or disappointed somehow.

"I have, tomorrow is initiation and if I pass that I will finally be accepted here at Beacon." Jaune said clutching his cup of tea.

"That is not why you are here." Dio pointed out before taking a drink from his tea cup.

Jaune smiled, perhaps he was too obvious with his intentions. "No, initiation doesn't concern me at the moment. What concerns me is the appearance of _my stand_."

Dio paused before placing his tea cup back down "Explain."

"It appeared recently and has only shown itself in combat. While that on it's own would not be concerning, what is concerning is that with it seems to have came with vivid hallucinations." A little voice in the back of Jaune's head reminding him about the voices he would occasionally hear as well and his apparent murderous tendencies, but that seemed unrelated at this time.

Dio's face shifted into a more serious one "You believe these hallucinations are caused by your stand? What do you see? Do you have any other bizarre symptoms?"

"No, but the visions come far too quickly for me to get a proper understanding of it." He lied "The first one appeared days after it partially materialized and since then I have had several more. If the two are truly related then I must quickly assert control over my stand. I don't want to constantly get into fights just to experiment with my ability to control it." left unsaid was the question ' _do you have any ideas?_ '

"Jaune. What have I, Dio, taught you about stands that applies to all stands universally?" Dio asked.

"Every stand is different. A master's control is almost instinctive but needs refining." he stated, annoyed that Dio was forcing him to repeat that almost useless lesson from yesteryear.

Dio gave him a coy smile "Are you not in a combat school where you will be expected to battle others? Do you not have ample opportunity to learn control in a stable and regulated environment?"

Jaune smiled "Yes. You're right." although the idea did not appeal to him especially if the fights carried the same risks as his encounter with Yang.

"Tell me about your stand Jaune. What features have you seen of it?" Dio asked placing his fist under his cheekbone.

"I am not quite so sure." left unsaid was the implication that Jaune shouldn't tell him more about the stand. Dio's philosophy about keeping your powers a secret applied even here.

Dio smiled. "Jaune. How can I, Dio, possibly hope to help you if you do not tell me about your stand?"

Jaune smiled as Dio saw though him "I have only seen it's arms thus far, and only for relatively short instances even with slowed time. They appear to be very muscular human arms with knobs on the knuckles."

"It appears that your stand is a _human-type_. How did it act?" Dio smiled.

"When it appeared it would help me in combat, adding it's own power to my strikes and blocks. It has not appeared to me outside of combat however and does not seem to react to anything other than my reflexes and instincts." Jaune continued hopping again that his instincts weren't driven by an innate blood lust and taste for murder.

"Your stand acts as if it were _Semi-automatic_. From your description it seems to be well-suited to close combat as well." Dio mentioned, sipping his tea.

Jaune paused to think for a moment "Do you think it can develop to have long or mid-range capabilities?"

"It is possible." Dio mused before fixing him a stern look. "However stands that exhibit tendencies and preferences towards close combat do not evolve to have long range capabilities despite what the user, you Jaune, may wish."

It was disheartening to hear of course, but not entirely surprising. He had never displayed any sort of affinity towards any kind of ranged weaponry with the less said about his attempts the better. Even so he was hopping that his stand may have some kind of ranged ability to help balance out his melee and close ranged skills.

"So is no chance at all then?" Jaune asked, silently hopping to hear anything other than 'no'.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. As you have said it is just emerging and has yet to fully materialize. Your stand may come to surprise you _one night_." Dio responded with an almost knowing smile.

Jaune sipped his tea and glanced at Dio's features, the man knew something, something important and was not telling him what it was, as usual. Again he wished his observational and analysis skills were better so that he might finally be able to properly read Dio's expressions and by extension his mind, perhaps then he might finally figure out the man's true agenda and how he seemed to play into it. The shock that rendered him dumb and deaf to expressions did not help in the slightest, Dio clearly noticed this however and bid him to leave.

Jaune sighed, bid Dio farewell and willed himself into the real world, wondering if Ruby had felt him lying on the floor or stuffed him into his sleeping bag like she did Yang. He sincerely hopped it was the latter as it would be embarrassing to wake up lying in the side of the ballroom like some drunkard who failed to get back to his home.

/-/

To his pleasant surprise he found himself in his sleeping bag like all the other students just as the morning sunlight poked through the glass windows. He was both sore and cold from sleeping on an improperly prepared bedroll, but that was nothing a good shower and warm food couldn't fix. Rolling over he noticed Ruby had taken the liberty of placing his pillow under his head and turning him to his side so that he would not choke on his tongue while he slept and left his shoes, armor and gear by his head for simple and quick access. As the light stabbed at his eyes he knew he had to get up to start his day if nothing else than to thank Ruby for her diligence, however his body wasn't quite so willing.

"Wake up sleepy head!" he heard a voice yell.

"I'm up." he groaned and pushed himself up then to the bathroom, trying to distance himself from the girl singing ' _It's morning_ ' over and over much to his and no doubt everyone else's annoyance.

He made it to the bathroom and turned the tap, smiling after splashing boiling hot water on his face. The pleasant sensation welcomed him back to reality as his smiling face reflected in the mirror, it died a moment later as the girl from earlier announced herself by blathering about how she and her life-long friend were finally at Beacon. He sighed as he brushed his teeth, maybe breakfast would help his mood after he got his hot shower.

His mood only worsened after the shower as the voice practically followed him to the cafeteria and sat itself down several seats down the table. Only then did he finally notice that the voice belonged to a _short, orange haired_ girl with _turquoise eyes_ and what he could only guess was a mix of various other styles used to create her own unique style that bizarrely enough seemed to complement and contrast with the rest of her appearance. Beside her was her 'friend' who had _long black hair_ with a _pink lock_ , equally _pink eyes_ and a _green jacket_ in a style he wasn't familiar with. He smiled almost in sympathy as he scrapped the last of his oatmeal from the bowl, the poor guy looked just as miserable as he felt right now and he couldn't help but wonder how he might help him.

"We should come up with som-OW!" the girl gasped and brought her left hand to her temple "WHO DID THAT!?" she yelled as she started looking around.

The guy smiled as the girl got up to ruin someone else's day leaving him to enjoy his breakfast in relative peace. Satisfied with his good deed for the day and even more pleased to note that his ability to properly analyse expressions seemed to be returning to him, Jaune bit into another orange slice and watched a humorous display unfold as the short, angry ginger girl found a reason to harass someone else several seats away from him. He smiled, spat out another large seed as the girl started what he could only assume was a crude attempt at a police interrogation as seen in the popular television shows he and 3 of his sisters enjoyed with a laughable efficiency and level of skill.

/-/

After breakfast he made his way to the locker hopping to meet Ruby and Weiss, initiation would be starting soon and all around him were potential team-mates. He had no idea which, if any of them would join his team and instead focused his vision on each person he saw and began his analysis. While there were dozens of options currently available to him he first looked for the people who came with him on the airship, his dynamic entrance had definitely left an impression on them and their expressions would tell him if it was good or bad. To his relief it appeared that most of the people he remembered from the airship had shown several positive reactions to him either because they were glad to see a familiar face or because they genuinely thought he was a bad ass who could help them out. That had thankfully freed him to pursue those who did not know him or showed a less favorable inclination, namely Weiss Schnee.

All teams would have 4 members and unless that policy changed within the last few months he would need to find at least 1 other person willing to work with him. Ruby was practically guaranteed at this point since he was her best friend. With her came the good chance that Yang would try to be on his team as well, which he hopped to avoid at all costs. That left a single spot for his idol, if he could get Weiss to join him then he was fairly confident that he would be able win her over eventually. Even if he failed to get Weiss to join his team he figured that he might at least change her current attitude towards him to something more positive, something a quiet part of his mind told him would only help him later on, the 'how' was something he didn't quite figure out yet but the voice him told him to risk it anyway. As he rounded the next corner and saw her, his idol and current dream girl, a princess in all but name talking to a tall _red headed girl_.

Upon seeing them he felt his heart constricted and his lungs freeze, he slumped on the side of a locker hopefully out of sight of the duo as something wracked his mind and body. Despite his best efforts his mind failed to function properly as feelings of despair, hope, anguish, happiness, sadness, unchecked rage, unbelievable joy and more rushed through him. In his vision swam images fluctuating far to fast for him to register anything other than the color 'red' in his current state. Red lines, red eyes, red hair, red clothing, red flames, and more was all he could manage to gleam of what his mind was 'seeing'. They were all important somehow, he knew that and tried to will himself to focus on the visions and against his better judgement the feelings coursing though him. Anything he could use to figure out what was going on, and how to resolve the issue as he forced himself away from the locker room.

It finally subsided as he entered the men's public bathroom. Color slowly filtered into his vision as he straightened himself up and walked to the sink, hopping nobody saw whatever it was that had happened to him. After splashing hot water on his face he stopped to stare at his reflection in the mirror, any trace of anything abnormal didn't appear to be showing on his face either fading away or sinking under his controlled expression. The only thing that might betray him would be his eyes, he sighed closed his eyes and breathed in hopping to pass whatever was happening to him as pre-initiation stress.

' _Hurry up Jaune we have class starting soon_.' an ever so familiar but still unrecognizable voice spoke.

He opened his eyes and saw that he was no longer in the public bathroom, instead he appeared to be in one of the bathrooms in Beacon's dormitories, similar to those he saw online. In the mirror was his reflection behind him he could also see a figure, unrecognizable save that it wore what seemed like Beacon's trade marked uniform and had similar shade of hair to that of the girl he saw earlier. Before he could do anything it pushed itself off the bed it sat on and vanished behind the door frame of the reflection. He twisted to try and see more but let out a squeal as his foot slipped on something and he slammed cheek first onto the edge of the sink.

/-/

When the hallucination faded he came back to the lockers and noticed that -thankfully- nobody seemed to suspect or see him as he had what he could only guess was a mental breakdown. He in turn focused his vision on spotting anything bizarre, unnatural or malefic, unless he knew more he could only assume that what happened was akin to an attack from a stand or someone's semblance. If he was truly being targeted so early than he needed to figure out; who was attacking him? Why they were attacking him? Where they were attacking him from? And most importantly how to defeat them?

As he walked around and gazed at the people who shared the room with him, taking an extra few seconds to analyse each person he saw while avoiding the red head and Weiss out of fear of another 'attack' that might potentially do physical damage to him. To his displeasure he found that everyone else currently in the locker room had none of the signs he was looking for, meaning that his 'attacker' had left the room, was one of the two girls or his stand. Moving to within a foot of the spot where he suffered his first 'attack' he hopped that if it was a semblance or a stand then he was hopefully be just beyond the edge of its range, of course assuming that it was one of the two girls that 'attacked' him.

He glanced at them and performed a quick analysis while pretending to lean against a locker and check his nails. The red head was tall and gorgeous, she wore a _light brown strapless shirt_ with dark _brown split shirt_ on top of it that exposed enough of her chest and shoulders without being scandalous, a _long red sash_ tied over her black skirt. A set of _bronze greaves and cuisses_ that ended several inches below the skirt and extended to her high heel boots. Her accessories consisted of a _bronze plate_ with her emblem on it, a _bronze neck piece_ , and a _brown circlet_ with emeralds on the end of tiny chains, likely more for decoration than protection. Oh her back was a _circular shield_ and what he could safely assume was a sword that probably expanded into something complex like a whip or a some kind of sniper rifle similar to Ruby's weapon.

She kept a polite expression while Weiss was either trying to make small talk or sell her something. The details were hard to tell at this distance and sadly he would need to get closer to determine if she was his attacker or another neutral party. If she was his 'attacker' then he would likely engage in another life threatening encounter, if she wasn't then he could safely go up to the pair and try to sweet talk Weiss into joining his team.

He stepped past the perceived safety line into what was potentially the optimum range of her ability if she was indeed his enemy.

' _So far so good_.' he thought as nothing happened.

After taking a few more steps he could make out that Weiss was asking the girl to partner up with her and caught a glimpse of her shining _green eyes_ as they turned to look at him. He made a show of placing his foot on a bench to stretch while he wondered why she looked so familiar to him, again he felt that strange feeling he had after he returned to his room from his first encounter with Yang at the bar and bizarrely enough he had also felt something similar with Ruby as well on the airship. Speculating about it could wait till later since the chance to get Weiss to join his team was right now a rapidly fading opportunity.

"Jaune are you ready?" a voice asked.

"Huh?" the voice startled him. He turned to see Ruby's eager face as she watched and waited for him.

"I am just thinking how to get Weiss to join the team." he said.

"Uhh. Why?" she asked, her face changing to one of caution.

"Well, she may be a good ally to us." he tried.

"I don't know." she said as she turned to look at the girl in question as she continued to speak to the red-head. "She seems kinda pushy to me."

' _Yeah, she does_.' Jaune internally agreed as a thought that recruiting Weiss may be a bad idea passed though his mind. ' _Wait. NO! I want this_.' he reminded himself and turned to face Ruby.

"She, uh. May be able to help you get _Crescent Rose_ modified the way you wanted." he remarked, silently hopping that was true.

"Really?" Ruby asked her face brightening up.

"I think so." he paused to take a quick glance at Weiss. "She's wearing expensive clothing and everything about that rapier screams 'fancy'. So if we play our cards right she might be able to help us get what we want." left unsaid was assumption that she might be willing to pay for what would no doubt be a series of very expensive upgrades.

"Lets do this." she remarked, her face and tone suddenly changing from cautious to determined in an instant.

"Great, just follow my lead." he commanded before walking up to the duo.

He maneuvered himself between the two girls just as Weiss curled into a rather undignified pose that almost resembled an evil creep scheming in some dark corner. He caught her attention with a small 'ahem' as he struck a masculine pose. He straightened his back more, pushed out his chest, and flexed his muscles without bending his arms and turned his head to face Weiss while he kept his feet parallel to his hips.

Summoning all his confidence he spoke "Miss Schnee, how pleasant to see you again."

She in turn glared at him "You again?"

"Are you upset with me somehow?" He asked shifting his pose by turning a to face her at a 75 degree angle, bringing his heels and ankles together while crossing his arms over his chest while raising an eyebrow.

She scoffed and placed a hand to her forehead "You ignorant buffoon."

After what sounded much like a mechanical device activating in the background "I do not care who you are, if you insult my friend again I shall strike you down without mercy." Ruby said striking a dramatic pose with an intense facial expression.

She stood straight holding her left arm up as far as it could go while her right extended at an almost 90 degree angle from her side as she held her beloved weapon, the back of the handle held with her index, middle fingers and thumb of her left hand while the ring and pinkie fingers stretched allowing the weight of the weapon to fall onto the tip of the blade as it rested on the floor. It was balanced by the palm of her right hand that rested on the shaft between the blades and what he safely guessed were the actual gun parts of her gun-scythe while the rest of her fingers stretched out like she was holding back an angry child.

"Oh gods." Weiss practically deflated in a manner that instantly told Jaune what she was thinking. ' _The stupidity is spreading_.'

' _Ruby you idiot! What are you doing? You'll ruin everything!_ ' Jaune thought as his lower eye lid twitched once.

"Oh wow, that is quite the interesting pose." The red-head said turning to face Ruby.

"Really, you think so?" Ruby asked as she relaxed, took a more normal stance and focused her attention on the other girl.

' _Ruby you genius!_ ' Jaune thought as he realized that he would not be interrupted speaking to Weiss now that the possibly hostile red-head was distracted.

"Miss Schnee I, Jaune, merely wish to extend to you an invitation to join my team." he said with a winning smile, trying to give the impression that she would need and want him on her team.

"Actually I think the teams consist of 4 people." the red head said, turning her attention towards him.

"And I'm going to be on his team." Ruby commented, having failed to hold the red head's attention for more than 5 seconds.

"You don't say." Jaune replied accidentally dropping some of his confident attitude. "I currently have Ruby yes, and am looking for 2 more people to join me. Are you interested?" he asked in an almost challenging way, having decided to call her out on it for some strange reason he couldn't fathom or understand at that point.

"I uh, wouldn't mind." she said, shifting slightly away from him.

Jaune raised an eyebrow as he focused his vision on her again. Her cheeks were slightly darker now, not enough to be truly visible unless you were actively looking for it. Her hands were clasped together with her thumbs gently rubbing against each other and she didn't really meet his gaze. However her eyes were still focused on him and her face shifted to a slightly more wanting one rather than the almost plastic one she had before, like she was trying to subtly suggest to him that she wanted to join his team.

' _She is either really shy or lacking social aptitude_. _More importantly she seems genuinely pleased by the idea and doesn't seem hostile to me_.' he thought,

"Jaune, is it?" Wiess asked as she came between the two focusing all her attention on him. "Do you have any idea who you are talking to?"

"Does it matter?" he asked, left unsaid was that he had no idea who she was.

The red head smiled and waved politely as Weiss introduced her. Apparently she was supposedly a famous tournament fighter and set some new record in some place called _Sanctum_ , which he had never heard of, not surprising considering that it was somewhere in Mistral. She had graduated at the top of her class probably like every 3rd person he would see attending Beacon academy which made the achievement seem less remarkable by comparison. Weiss also added that she apparently was the current face of Pumpkin Pete's cereal, one of the many brands of junk-food Dio forced him to stop eating as a child, claiming that it would be bad for both of them later on. In the end he had his doubts about the extent of her fame as he had never heard of her anywhere, if she was truly as famous as Weiss was claiming that she was then he would have likely heard the name _Pyrrha Nikos_ somewhere already, even if it was in a passing conversation someone was having as he walked by.

Her feats apparently mattered to Ruby who was now silently begging him to let her join their team. He wasn't so sure however, from what Weiss told him she was little more than a show-girl adapted to fighting within a set and regulated environment where you could tap out if you were injured or decided to give up, a far cry from what the first few encounters during his trip to Vale were like. If those were an indicator of things to come then he may end up having to protect and baby-sit her while the next -probably female- psychopath he met shredded him to tiny bite sized chunks of meat. Her muscular frame did little to dissuade the feelings of dread born from the events of the first 4 days after he left Sino.

"Fine, I suppose their is room for you." Jaune said finally caving into Ruby's puppy eyes and the subtle pleading in Pyrrha's expressions despite her efforts to conceal it. Ruby's face brightened exponentially while Pyrrha gave him an actual smile rather than the plastic one she had before.

"That just leaves 1 spot left, will you fill it Weiss?" He asked, looking at the girl. By her facial expression and darting eyes she was baffled by this development and was actually considering joining him, if nothing else than to be close to Pyrrha.

' _YES!_ ' he thought ' _Everything is going my way, just a few more seconds and I'll secure my dream girl, my best friend and an extra to fill Yang's spot_.'

"I, uh. Need to think about this?" she said.

"Please do." He said resisting the urge to push the issue further.

"YAY! We have the best team ever!" Ruby yelled, throwing her arms up.

"I believe so." Pyrrha said, apparently unsure of what to say.

"Well then. I will take my time in thinking about your proposal Jaune." Weiss said, apparently trying to distant herself from Ruby and him, only pausing to take Pyrrha's hand in hers and look into the taller girl's eyes "It was nice to meet you Pyrrha and I hope we can become better friends in the future."

"Ok?" Pyrrha said, apparently unsure of what to make of the farewell.

' _Oh that's not good._ ' he realized as his idol and perhaps the only opportunity to team up with her walked away from them as the call for all first year students to assemble by the cliffs for initiation rang out over the speakers.

 **AN: Hey all, due to personal events occurring in my life right now I will not be able to provide an update next week. Hopefully this is a one time thing and can get back to updating the story on a weekly basis without any further delays.**


	11. Chapter 11

Just beyond the collective sight of Jaune, Ruby and Pyrrha but still within hearing range stood a panting _Blake Belladonna_. Despite her hyperventilation her heart was beating at a normal pace, despite her panic she was curiously calm, both her mind and body contradicted themselves in a truly bizarre way. She leaned over the corner to peek at the source of her current state, the boy who was introduced as ' _Jaune_ '. It confused her to no end as despite his innocent face and that exaggerated bravado that she would expect from someone compensating or simply trying to 'act cool' he had somehow managed to terrify her.

His blond hair which seemed to shine like the sun had pulled her eyes to meet his gaze. His cold blue eyes seemed to lay siege to her very soul intent on pillaging and looting it for all it's secrets. His pale, smooth, almost transparent skin reminded her of the sweet cream based yogurt she would enjoy as a child, tempting her to come closer like a moth to a gentle flame. Also about him was an air of bewitching sensuality and an aura of easiness, almost as if he was your best friend and would come to help you solve all your problems. It was a sensation she had never felt from her closest friend and most trusted ally, yet this boy who wasn't even properly introduced to her had captivated her passively. When she heard him speak she noticed it had a bizarrely calming effect, like a serpent his words weaved their way past her guard and into her heart, calming it as if she were in a trace.

That alone terrified her but the worst part was something her survival instincts hinted at, his dangerously sweet voice, innocent face, calming aura and fake bravado hid something truly dark and dangerous. More dangerous than the _White Fang_ , more dangerous than it's leader _Adam_ , and dare she say it more dangerous than the Grimm themselves should they invade in force. Unlike her past which she could run from, the racist bigots who she could hide from and the Grimm that she could fight and kill, this terror suggested that should it act against her she would die instantly and nothing she would do would change that. Whatever it was warranted an investigation, something told her that she would never truly be safe unless she knew what it was and how to deal with it.

She retreated behind the corner as the trio made their way past her to the cliffs and began to follow them at a safe distance, focusing her analytical mind on what little she knew of him. If whatever it was that scared her was truly like what her instincts were hinting at then she could not just rush in and slice his throat open or run away should the worse come to pass, right now she needed to learn more, place the pieces of the puzzle into their rightful places and study the picture they would inevitably form. The first pieces given to her being his dangerously sweet voice, that bizarre charm that had no doubt ensnared and trapped the other 2 girls currently with him and the dark, foreboding feeling that frightened her so much. Hopefully then the puzzle was complete the true source of her fear would be revealed and with it methods that she could use to destroy it, or at the very least preserve herself in it's wake.

/-/

Jaune took his place on the last empty metal pad, looking down the line he spied his best friend who waved at him, he returned it and looked further down the line. Several more spots down was Pyrrha, a curious girl who he safely confirmed hadn't attacked him in the locker room. A few more spots after her was Yang and Weiss who were whispering something among themselves. He observed them with a neutral face while trying to look as though he wasn't. His paranoia was acting up again, it first appeared when he thought he was being followed only to find either nothing behind him or students that were just heading in the same direction without any of the hostility or 'intent' he would expect from a person stalking him.

To make sure he managed to separate himself from the girls claiming he needed to use the bathroom and took a detour. When he started feeling paranoid again he took a left turn at the earliest opportunity only to find it followed him as he went about his way. After his second left turn the paranoia vanished probably as his 'stalker' either figured out what he was trying to do or lost track of him, assuming of course that he was actually being followed by someone with ill-intent and is stand wasn't somehow responsible for the paranoia as well as the hallucinations.

In either case he would need to exert control over his stand as quickly as possible, if someone was actively working against him then not only would he be more vulnerable to their attacks, especially if his stand suddenly decided to work against him, but more bizarre traits and 'symptoms' could emerge to plague him. Fortunately for him initiation was coming up and should provide him with several chances in the next several hours alone, if they were going to be tested on their combat aptitude.

His hopes were confirmed as he looked over the green _Emerald_ _Forest_ while the headmaster and headmistress began what he assumed was a motivational speech telling the initiates that -like he suspected- they would be evaluated based on their performances fighting Grimm within the forest. They would be receiving their team-mates today and that the assignments would be permanent for the remainder of their time at Beacon. Along with this came the not so subtle advice that it was in their best interest to find someone they could work well with rather than someone who could potentially fight well. That made sense as the majority of their time would be with each other rather than on a battle field. He smiled at Ruby who shared a knowing smile with him, silently reaffirming their earlier arrangement to partner up together. The next thing the headmaster said however practically shattered it.

"The first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next 4 years."

"What!" Ruby yelled echoing his thoughts and likely that of several other students.

That system was both highly inefficient but also curiously beneficial to people like him and Ruby who could seek each other out while the rest of the students could decide who they wanted to work with for the next four years. This meant that he could potentially prevent Yang from joining his team and claim Weiss in her place with the only thing stopping him being essentially a metaphorical roll of the dice swayed only slightly by how determined Yang would be to make his life miserable. However he realized that metaphorical dice roll could also potentially screw him over as the odds of getting both Ruby and Wiess were startlingly low after he made a quick and uneducated guess at the odds. In that regard he figured that he might as well go for Pyrrha as well, she seemed kind, modest, possibly shy and that killer body didn't hurt his opinion of her either. Most importantly she was a hot girl who hadn't 'friend-zoned' him yet, and despite his apparent 'relationship' with Yang their was still a real chance that she could become his first real girlfriend. She wasn't opposed to the idea of teaming up with him, and if they teamed up that would certainly provided way more than enough opportunities for him to interact with her hopefully to solidify a romantic relationship. He smiled as his focus returned to the headmaster and his assistant, first priority would be to meet up with Ruby and Weiss, second Pyrrha, failing either of those it would be anyone but Yang.

After giving them directives to find a temple, obtain the preset relics within, then return to the cliffs the headmaster asked if their were any questions, more as a formality or requirement rather than any actual intent to answer or provide help just before the first launch pad activated, sending it's occupant into the forest. Jaune turned and watched in horror as the first initiate sailed through the air, followed by another, then another.

"So uh, did you give out parachutes or something?" Jaune nervously asked, remembering that his best landing strategy was more akin to flailing through the air and praying that when he slammed face first into the dirt he would still be alive.

"No. You will be using your own landing strategy." Ozpin said with an almost unreadable expression but with a tone that suggested he was annoyed that people were asking questions rather than at him for asking what in the end was a stupid question.

"Oh, uh. So what would be a gooooooooooooooooooo-" he wailed as his pad activated prematurely, launching him ahead of at least 6 other initiates.

/-/

As he screamed and flailed in the air he tried to straighten himself to land on his feet. Realizing that landing would probably destroy his leg joints, he tried extending himself to latch onto a tree branch and pulled back after realizing that strategy would tear his arms out of their sockets if he actually caught a branch that wouldn't break under the force exerted by him. He drew his sword thinking he could maybe catch onto something, perhaps a thick tree until he realized he had no means of steering himself in mid air before the forest met him.

"MUDA!" he yelled as he swung his sword arm towards a nearby tree trunk but failing to catch onto it.

' _Oh come on!_ ' his mind screamed as he willed time to slow down so that he could get a better look at anything that might be used to help him at the very least slow his descent before he hit the ground.

He cursed and spat profanities as he slammed face first onto the forest floor then bounced several meters before colliding with a tree. A few moments later he pushed himself up with a groan trying to ignore the pain that came from his landing. After confirming that his body was still intact he started moving through the forest as fast as he could, hopping to find someone in the next few minutes before Yang or someone like her found him.

/-/

' _This is far enough_.' he thought as he came across a giant rock structure and looked up.

True to his expectations the earthen structure had little in the way of hand and footholds, and combined with a roughly 80 degree slope practically ensured that he would not be able to climb it without wasting a lot of time, time he was certain he did not have as people would start partnering up by now and would only worsen the odds of partnering up with the people he wanted. His only option was to go around it and hope that Ruby, Wiess or at the very least Pyrrha was on the other side.

After about 30 seconds he came upon a cave, while not exactly surprising it wasn't expected and he would have moved on if he hadn't felt a weak breeze brush his skin. Intrigued by this he focused his vision on the interior, to his delightful surprise he saw a tiny light somewhere deep in the cave. That combined with the breeze meant only one thing.

"Its a tunnel." he said to no one in particular as he found a shortcut thought the mountainous structure.

He smiled upon his perceived fortune, with the power to slow time he could potentially cross through in seconds. After turning on his cell phone's flashlight feature he walked into the tunnel, the darkness engulfing him as he moved deeper inside following the tiny light as it guided him to a promised goal. As he walked he couldn't deny the bizarre feeling that followed him as he traversed the tunnel, it seemed familiar and somehow he felt like he was missing something, something important.

' _Do you feel that?_ ' a familiar voice echoed from somewhere.

"Huh?" he barked and spun around looking for the source of the voice.

' _Just the voices again._ ' he realized after a quick search turned up nobody behind or around him.

He put his foot on something and paused as a bizarre chest high rock appeared in his colorless vision. Above it the light source seemed to move, curious he paused to look at it, noticing it had seemed to be in a bizarre shape to it and floated midair. Feeling something was wrong he allowed color to return to the world around him so he could finish examining it in closer detail. It looked like a stinger of some kind, similar to those you might see on a scorpion but it was glowing a dull orange color. A moment later something under his feet lurched causing him to slip and fall on his back. With a clatter of plastic and a sound like thin glass cracking the world around him descended into darkness, looking down he froze in terror as red orbs and lines emerged to stare at him.

"Red lines." he gasped as he realized that he was currently in front of a giant _Death stalker_.

He screamed as he felt it grab him with it's front pincer and throw him into the ceiling before it's stinger lunged at him. With a grunt he managed to grab it with both his hands and those of his stand before the tip could connect with his breast plate, his teeth began to hurt from the pressure he had inadvertently put on them from the strain of holding the giant stinger back as it pinned him to the floor. With a half yell he pushed it upward throwing it over him as the Death stalker approached him, he pulled out his shield and expanded it catching the claw of the beast as it swung at him.

He grunted as he pushed the serrated claw off his shield. Seeing an opportunity he willed time to slow as he got up and drew his sword. "Muda!" he yelled as he swung his blade down upon where the claw would have been. His blade caught on the protective carapace of the claw, the vibration rippling through the blade and up his arm.

' _Not here_.' he realized and started striking at different points until he felt a softer carapace give way between his blade.

' _GOT IT!_ ' he internally yelled.

He willed time to come to a near halt as the Grimm started to recoil. He closed his eyes knowing that they would be useless in near perfect darkness now that the only source of light he had was the creatures natural glow since his phone now lay broken somewhere. With a deep breath he lifted his sword up and brought it down screaming "Muda!".

Bizarrely as he felt the impact ripple through his arm he also felt or more accurately 'saw' it ripple through the monster, not only showing him where the Grimm was as if he could see it with his own eyes, but where it was in relation to the cave. If anyone had ever asked about it the best way he could describe the bizarre event was as if he had dropped a pebble into a pool of still water shaped like a giant Death stalker with the resulting ripple revealing everything he needed to know about it. He couldn't help but smile as this new information registered in his mind.

"Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda!"

He yelled as his barrage of sword strikes landed on the joint of the giant monster's claw. When he finally felt his sword cut through the claw and slam into the stone earth he let time resume at it's normal pace. He couldn't help but smile as the creature roared in pain, it made the mistake of trying to attacking him and it would pay for it dearly.

Reflexively he swung his shield out in front of him just in time to block the Death stalker's retaliation strike. The force of the blow knocked him off his feet and into the wall, as he bounced off the creature made a backhanded swing with it's remaining claw. Forcing time to slow down he curling up behind his shield he hopped it would both protect him from harm and make him a smaller target before the swing connected with him, the force generated by the swing sent him flying through the cave.

He landed face first with a pant and spat out grass as the sunlight stabbed his eyes. He groaned as he reached out for what he hopped was his sword or shield after having somehow dropped both mid flight.

"Huh?" he intoned as he gripped what in the end turned to be a metal plate on a high heeled boot.

Forcing his eyes to open even if it was a squint he was barely able to make out the bronze plating leading up to the black skirt, brown shirt and eventually the curiously surprised face of Pyrrha Nikos as she somehow balanced the pommel of her sword on her palm as it pointed straight at him.

"Oh, hello Jaune." she said.

"Hello?" he managed before the Death stalker burst from the cave with a hate filled roar.

' _Oh crap!_ ' his mind screamed as the stinger came down upon him.

Before it could connect he and Pyrrha jumped in opposite directions, he extended his arms and legs in preparation to land and distribute the force of the landing on all four limbs when he felt a bizarre force continue pulling him to the side until it and the force of his jump had lodged him in a tree.

"I'm sorry." Pyrrha called.

Seeing the opportunity for what it was the Death stalker charged at him wanting to exact vengeance for its claw.

"Don't worry I'll help you!" Pyrrha called and made a pulling motion with her hand.

Jaune screamed as he was somehow yanked from the tree and towards the face of the angry Death stalker. He couldn't help but remark at the bizarre sensation that filled him as time slowed down and the monster appeared to be slowly reaching for him with it's claw. He gasped as it closed around his neck, and grunted as he tried to force his hands between his neck and the claw while the Death stalker tried to decapitate him and latch onto his feet with it's mandibles either to try and eat him or immobilize him for it's stinger to strike. He couldn't let this happen, he refused to die like this, with a roar he gripped the serrated edges around his neck and pushed with all his strength.

"MUDA!" he yelled as the arms of his stand emerged from him to help pry him free. The creature roared in pain as several ligaments in it's claw tore apart, rendering it useless.

"Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda!"

Jaune screamed as he slammed his feet over and over onto the face of the giant Death stalker, until it nearly shattered it's bony face plate and pulverizing some of it's eyes. Stunned it recoiled a step and Jaune twisted and dropped to the ground landing in a kneeling position as color returned to the world around him. Curiously he had noticed for a brief second an additional leg merge into his. It appeared to resemble a very muscular humanoid leg, similar to his except it was yellow in color. On the knee was a green emblem he didn't fully see, however appeared vaguely circular in shape and seemed to be attached as if it were a knee pad like what you might wear when you were participating in certain sports or other similar activities. He smiled and stood up, the death stalker had by now regained it's senses and lunged at him with it's stinger, ignoring Pyrrha but flinching as she cut off one of it's hind legs at the joint throwing off it's aim a small but still easily exploitable amount.

"MUDA!" Jaune screamed as he and his stand punched at the stinger, causing it to fly back and lodge itself into one of the cracks in the Grinn's face plate.

It flailed in pain as Pyrrha cut at it's unprotected tail, severing some nerve connection and preventing it from removing the stinger from it's face. In response Jaune walked over with a blossoming swagger and confidence, recoiled his right fist in a standard punching pose and delivered a devastating punch to it's protective mask, his stand adding it's own power to the blow.

As it slid across the ground leaving miniature trenches in its wake pain burst through Jaune's right hand and he winced as he gripped it. Willing time to slow down he paused to examine it, gritting through the pain as he pulled his finger-less gloves off and found his knuckles purple from aggravating bruises he had not noticed before while the rest of his hand was red as if he aggravated some past injury. He paused to examine his other hand finding similar but comparatively mild injuries like bruises on his knuckles, no where as bad as those on his right hand but still visible. He stopped to wonder how he managed to hurt himself so badly, the only time it could have happened was when he had fought with Yang last night. A 'moment' later he mentally slapped himself as he remembered he used his stand to deflect one of Yang's punches and it had somehow hurt his right hand. That could not have happened, Dio told him that you needed to have a stand to damage another stand and it's master, Yang did not have a stand, if she did it would show itself in their duel.

' _That OR it had not fully emerged yet._ ' the voice in the side of his head reminded him.

He grunted in annoyance as the realization struck him, his stand had started emerging in a similar way as well, first with a barely noticeable action, then making itself known when he was in life threatening danger. If Yang had a stand and it was truly emerging like his had, then the next time it appeared would be when she was in a life or death situation but unlike him she may not be able to slow time to escape or counter. If she couldn't do either then she might die and he had to wonder if it was truly a bad thing.

' _Speculating can wait, now I have a giant Death Stalker to kill._ ' he thought as he let time resume to a normal pace.

Pyrrha leaped past him and slashed at it with a bizarre combo that involved shifting her weapons between their various forms and a seemingly complex set of acrobatics to deliver a fury of attacks while avoiding it's attempts to hit her with what was left of it's remaining claw. Not wanting to let her have all the fun he rushed at it and gripped one of it's mandibles with his bad hand. Ignoring the pain that shot though his hand he willed as much strength as he could muster into his other hand he punched down upon the stinger screaming "MUDA!" as he did.

The stinger broke through the face plate and shattered it revealing a grotesque image underneath it. It made Jaune sick to look at it, the revulsion he felt could be roughly equitable to the amount of pain he would feel if he tried punching it's mountainous home with his bad hand at full strength. Taking a quick glance at Pyrrha he knew she felt much the same, not wanting to punch it again he moved to pick up his sword and hold it with both hands and turned to smile at her.

"Shall we finish it?" he asked as the Death stalker struggled to keep it's balance and stay on it's remaining feet.

"Yes." she agreed, her gaze transforming into a focused one as she readied herself.

"Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda!"

He yelled as he slashed at it with almost perfect precision while Pyrrha complemented him almost perfectly but remained curiously silent. With a final roar the monster fell and began disintegrating, satisfied with his work he turned to Pyrrha.

"I guess we are partners now." he said.

She in turn gave him a bright smile "Yes, yes we are."

' _Ok. I secured the extra, now time to find Wiess and Ruby._ ' he thought.

/==========================================================================================================/

 **Stand name: ?**

 **Destructive power; uncertain**

 **Speed; uncertain**

 **Range; uncertain**

 **Durability/staying; ?**

 **Precision; uncertain**

 **Development potential/Learning; B**

 **User: Jaune Arc**

 **Abilities: Uncertain**

/==========================================================================================================/

 **AN: Hello everyone, sorry for the wait. Sadly though I cannot continue publishing on a weekly basis and will need to instead publish new chapters on a bi or tri weekly basis in order to keep the fic going at a decent pace without compromising quality. You will still have new chapter's of** ** _Jaune Arc's Bizarre Adventure_** **, but they will not come out as often as they did before.**


	12. Chapter 12

"Do you think this is it?" Pyrrha asked as they looked down at what appeared to be the ruins of what Jaune assumed was a temple dedicated to some forgotten deity.

Jaune glared at it, seeing something but not entirely sure what. "You stay here and cover me. I will go check it out." he ordered.

Sliding down a small canopy he drew his sword and expanded his shield, his paranoia was acting up again and he elected to approach the ruins carefully. This time however his paranoia was completely justified as the last 'ruin' they came across was home to a group of Beowolves, while they did manage to defeat the creatures without much difficulty he did not wish to be surprised again. As great as Pyrrha was in close combat she would currently be more useful watching over him with her rifle.

Cautiously he approached the ruins, it was no doubt intended to circular in design but years of neglect and exposure had reduced it to a decrepit semi-circle of stone exposing dozens of podiums with chess pieces perfectly placed on them. Seeing it was safe he collapsed his gear and waved his partner over. Once she arrived he paused to stare at a white rook chess piece that stood on a podium next to a white knight piece, for some reason it seemed bizarrely familiar.

"What are chess pieces doing out here?" Pyrrha asked as the two entered the temple.

"That's it!" he yelled out. "Pyrrha don't you think it's odd to find chess pieces in a forest?"

"Uh, yes?" she responded with a questioning expression.

Jaune crossed his arms and leaned back slightly "Especially since they are perfectly positioned on pedestals in a Grimm infested forest?"

"That's right." she stated as she gripped onto a nearby piece and looked it over. It was brand new, the wood polish was still shining with the only imperfections coming from her gloves as she held it.

"I'm pretty sure these are the 'relics' we were sent here to find." Jaune stated with confidence.

"Which one should be bring back?" she asked putting her piece back down.

"I think this one." he said gripping the white rook piece. He again paused to look at it wondering why it seemed so important.

"Good choice." a new voice intoned.

Surprised Jaune jumped back, landed with his expanded shield in front of him and his sword ready to cut and stab at whatever startled him. Looking around he saw the voice belonged to a short girl with turquoise eyes and orange hair. She had an outfit that was a mix of several others with the most notable parts being a pair of pink finger less gloves, a pink frilly skirt, a black vest partially worn over a white shirt with a heart shaped hole on her bust, and near shoulder length sleeves. She sat on one of the remaining support columns looking down at them as though she were lording over them, almost like a queen about to address her subjects.

A second later she pushed herself off her high arch and stood with her feet parallel to her hips while both hands rested on them in a relaxes manner, she tilted her head slightly to the side and gave them a wide smile that would have been a pleasant one if not for the fact that she was showing far too many teeth. Jaune didn't need to analyzing her to learn that she possessed an high level of confidence and a belief that she was in a position of authority while simultaneously challenging anyone to try and oppose her.

"Aren't you that girl from breakfast?" Jaune asked recognizing her almost instantly.

"Yep. Name's Nora, and you are?" she asked.

"Jaune, Jaune Arc." he said sheathing his sword and extending his right hand.

"Nice to meet you." she said gripping, shaking and practically crushing his hand with both of hers. "Is this your partner?" she asked rushing up to Pyrrha who backed up slightly before Nora could come too close for comfort.

"Yep. That's. Her. Where's yours?" he managed to force out while tenderly holding his right hand. ' _Why did it have to be the right one?_ ' he internally groaned.

"He's right there." she said pointing to the beleaguered black-haired boy in the green jacket he also recognized from breakfast. He was hunched over, breathing heavily and kept a hand on one of the columns and the other on his knee as though he were doing everything in his power not to collapse on the spot.

"Jaune meet by best friend Ren. Say hi Ren." Nora ordered. In response Ren just coughed, leaned into the column then slid to a seating position.

"Will he be alright?" Pyrrha asked.

"Eh he'll be fine, though it doesn't look as though we were the first ones here." Nora commented as she went to inspect a pedestal.

True to her word several of the pedestals were missing their pieces, looking around he counted at least 20 pedestals, some had white chess pieces and others with black ones.

"I think I figured out how the teams are made." Jaune said after moving to stand next to Pyrrha.

"How?" Pyrrha curiously asked.

"Ozpin told us to form pairs then bring back one piece each right?"

"Yes." Pyrrha confirmed.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but each pair is to bring back 1 relic and if so then the people with matching relics would be paired together in a team of four people." he theorized.

"That does makes sense." Pyrrha agreed.

He held the white rook piece before them "So if we go by that logic then whomever picks up the remaining white rook piece will be our partners. And if that's the case then we need to find Ruby and Weiss quickly before-"

" _I'm queen of the castle. I'm queen of the castle_." Nora sang as she played with the other white rook piece.

Jaune's shoulder's slumped and his face twisted into one of disappointment "Damn-"

"-IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT." Ruby finished for him as she announced herself from above.

"RUBY!" Jaune yelled looking up.

"Ruby?" Pyrrha asked then froze upon seeing her.

"Nora!" said girl announced herself loudly as she somehow materialized between the pair. "By the way I think she might be in serious trouble."

Jaune couldn't disagree. His best friend was currently holding onto the tail feathers of a giant nevermore while her partner Weiss was hanging onto it's talons for dear life. The monster itself either didn't seem to notice or care for it's passengers and instead seemed content just flying overhead.

"Shouldn't we help them?" Pyrrha wondered.

"I'm going to say yes." Jaune answered.

"How do we do that?" Nora asked.

"Like this. Muda!" he roared as he kicked the base of an empty pedestal, the power his stand provided causing it to break at the base with enough force to launch it 2 meters into the air. Focusing his mind on the task at hand he made a rough guess as to the pedestals weight as it landed in his arms, willing away the pain he felt in his right hand as he gripped it he took aim.

' _I have only one chance at this, after this the monster will not allow itself to be hit again_.' he thought before he roared his hate and threw the broken pedestal at the monster, his stand materializing to add it's immense strength to the throw. It flew upwards then curved into an arcing motion before descended like a javelin onto the giant best. In response to the new danger the beast twisted and dodged in mid air with the movement and grace only a bird could manage before the stone missile could hit it, inadvertently throwing off both Ruby and Weiss in the process.

"Oh come on!" Jaune yelled as the pedestal crashed harmlessly into the forest.

"It was a good effort." Pyrrha said with a comforting smile while Nora stared at him with a clearly surprised expression.

"Head's uuuuuppp! Ruby screamed as she flailed through the air towards them while Weiss safety descended to the nearby thicket using strange glyphs that materialized below her feet.

"I got her!" Nora yelled as she dashed out to try and catch Ruby. "I don't got her." she said as Ruby slammed into the ground in front of her. ' _Damn it Nora!_ ' Jaune cursed before Ruby announced she was fine and pulled herself up.

"Not to interrupt but that nevermore is coming back." Ren called from the temple.

True to his word the giant creature had turned around and was now headed in their direction intent on killing them. As it flew towards them it seemed to ignore everyone's projectile attacks only acknowledging Nora's grenades as a threat and dodged them with an avian ease, in response Jaune focused his vision on it. While analyzing the expression of a Grimm was proving to be an exercise in futility due to a lack of anything resembling proper facial expressions or subtle identifiable gestures that might tell him what it was feeling and by extension thinking he had hopped to at least make an educated guess as to what it would do next based on how it was moving. The more he focused on it the more he felt a bizarre sense of deja vu followed by an equally frightening feeling, almost as though he locked eyes with an enemy sniper the moment before the bullet that would end his life was fired.

"Get to cover." someone yelled a moment before the beast made a single powerful flap with it's wings launching a barrage of spear like feathers at them, each one slamming down like spears into the earth and the ruins like rain with devastating effect.

"We need to bring that that thing down to us or it's just going to keep dodging us and attacking from a safe distance." Ruby yelled from behind one of the ruin's columns.

"I can do it." Nora called out as bolts pink electricity danced across her weapon.

"That thing can dodge your grenades easily. How are you going to take it down?" Jaune asked from an archway he scrambled behind.

"like this!" Nora barked with an almost psychotic smile.

Curious as to what she would do Jaune willed time to slow down while Nora stepped out of cover and aimed her gun at the Nevermore. As she did he thought he saw something truly bizarre, even in slow motion it appeared as if the veins in Nora's body had for a moment lit up in the same way a light bulb would when provided adequate power only to vanish the instant she pulled the trigger of her grenade launcher. Even in slow motion the grenade traveled at an incredible speed towards it's intended target, slamming into the monster's chest before it or anyone could do as much as blink.

"Direct hit." Nora declared as she hefted her weapon on her shoulder and placed a hand on her hip as color rushed back into the world around them while the beast fell from the sky, slamming into the ground as though it suddenly lost all ability to move, rendering it completely helpless.

"Its down. Kill it quickly before it can recover." Ruby yelled before rushing out to dispatch the beast.

/-/

"This is our room." Ren declared as they entered their dormitory.

The room itself was nothing special. It had 4 beds, 2 of which were arranged approximately 30 inches apart from each other and the side walls, all of which were pressed against the far wall that had a window built in the center of the wall opposing the door. It offered them an excellent view of the gardens below, with a small book shelf fitted between the two middle beds. By the door were 4 empty desks with 3 rows of shelves build over them for what Jaune could safely assume was for books and other small materials. Decorating the walls was a bland wallpaper with faint pattern that repeated itself at every interval.

"This is the closet." Ren said as he opened a door built into the left side of the room.

"We have a large bathroom as well." Pyrrha commented as she walked through the door on the right side.

"I call the middle bed." Nora yelled as she threw her luggage to the side and jumped landing face down on it.

"I for one think this room is perfect." Jaune declared.

Without decoration the room was little more than a larger version of a room in the hotel he stayed at when he first entered Vale, appearing just as cozy as well if the bed he sat on was any indication. Initiation had finished not too long ago and with it came team assignments, just as he had guessed he and Pyrrha were paired with Nora and Ren because they had both collected the white rook pieces and with that Ozpin had decided to dub them _team JNPR_. After the ceremony they were then given fitting uniforms, computerized devices called ' _scrolls_ ' in which they could communicate with themselves and others as well as Beacon's computer system and directions to the dorm room in which they would be living in for the foreseeable future.

He smiled as his team started making themselves home, a ridiculously good stroke of fortune had placed him literally 4 steps away from the dorm Ruby and her team was in. On her team was his dream girl Weiss Schnee, his current nemesis and best friend's older sister Yang Xiao-Long and a black haired beauty with amber eyes and a bow on her head named Blake Belladonna who strangely enough froze up when they made eye contact as though she were expecting him to do something then felt relief when he didn't. What made it even more bizarre was that he felt as though he knew her intimately, like she was a long lost friend or something.

He put his hands behind his head as he lay down on the bed he picked for himself, the whole situation was far too bizarre for comfort. It was one thing to have a sense of familiarity with strangers as that would led to future friendships but what he felt in the last few days hinted at something more. He closed his eyes and relaxed, trying to focus his mind on what he knew.

He had researched Beacon extensively prior to planning his trip from home to see if it was where he truly wanted to study and while he did expect the anticipation that came with visiting a new, exciting and no doubt desirable location, now that he was lying in a bed in Beacon's dorm room as an official student of the institute all he felt was the kind of relaxation he would feel when he came home after a good day in Sino. It would have been acceptable if he was living in Beacon for months or even years but instead he couldn't help but feel a little worried as he seemed to settle in 'far too quickly' as one of his older sisters would describe it.

More than that he had noticed he started feeling strangely when he saw certain people. For his team he felt a strange kind of love, the kind that would be born from years of bonding and sharing experiences. For _team RWBY_ he felt an odd affection as though all 4 girls were not people he had just met within the last few days but instead were members of his extended family like a cousin or someone closer. An all male team Ozpin dubbed _team_ _CRDL_ had inspired a strange kind of anger and apathy like that he had felt towards the bullies at home and so on.

It made no sense, before he met Pyrrha that morning he had such an adverse reaction the moment he saw her. Now that he had a chance to think about it the best way he could describe what he felt would be as if he had experienced years worth of anguish and despair over the loss of someone important and the relief and happiness that would come when you suddenly meet that person again all in the span of however much time passed when he was having his breakdown.

Wanting to test a theory he conjured images of all the girls he had 'reacted' towards in his head. As an image of Pyrrha smiling at him spun itself in his head he couldn't help but smile back happily, as an image of Ruby replaced her he also felt happy, but not as much as with Pyrrha. Repeating the process for Nora, Yang, Blake and even his dream girl Weiss he noticed that oddly enough none of them seemed to have the same effect as Pyrrha did. He sighed ' _She must be important somehow._ ' he theorized, the ' _how_ ' and ' _why_ ' was something he would need to figure out if he was ever going to solve this bizarre riddle. He doubted Pyrrha would know anything useful and asking would just raise questions he wouldn't want to answer, in the end his own guesses and theories were currently the only valid leads he could go with.

The next thing of note was his apparent echo locator ability that helped him against the giant death stalker in the cave. He couldn't see in the dark and despite the size of the death stalker, the confinement of the cave and the fact that the beast was literally in front of him the odds of him hitting anything that would do any actual damage would still be startlingly low. His idea to slow time and essentially play what could be effectively summed up as the worst game of 'whack a Grimm' in Remnant's history should have taken him a lot longer to actually achieve anything had that new and bizarre ability not activated. Since he had his eyes closed and decided to rely on his sense of touch and hearing to determine where he should strike it could have been some ability he always had within him or it could be tied to his stand somehow, given his recent experiences the latter seeming more likely. If that was the case then he would need to ask Dio for more information and hopefully the man would provide the answers he needed instead of making him guess and try to figure it out on his own.

Speaking of stands their was also the real possibility that Yang had one and it was emerging. If it was truly like her than it would likely place everyone around her in danger when she activated it's ability, then again their was still the slim chance that it could be a relatively tame one and pose no real threat to others. Either way he doubted he would be able to do anything about it until it manifested enough for him to properly interact with or identify it.

' _Oh well I have 4 years to figure all this out, it can't be too hard._ ' he thought and froze when he opened his eyes.

Perched on all fours above him was his team mate Nora with a large almost predatory grin on her face. Her hair was wet and moisture clung to her skin as the scent of soap reached his nostrils. She wore a simple black shirt with the word 'boop' on it with her symbol making one of the 'o's and short pink pants that clung to her recently washed body like plaster.

"Nora what are you doing? Where's Ren and Pyrrha?" he had to ask trying to make sense of the situation.

"They left not too long ago, besides I needed to talk to you about something." she responded.

"Something?" he asked, trying to hide his confusion as she leaned in closer.

"Yep, you and I have that special something in common." she said.

"I, I do?" he asked while several the voices in his head collectively started asking and hopping as to what it might be.

She put her hands on his shoulders, effectively pinning him to the bed "Like me you're possessed by an evil spirit." she said.

In a flash of pink electricity a metallic humanoid emerged from her and floated behind her. It had one hand which resembled metal gauntlets with short needle like protrusions on the ends of the fingers resting on Nora's shoulder which ended midway up the stand's arm and seemed to melt into the rest of it's body. A body that appeared to be made of various wires and cables and given a humanoid shape by a plastic casing similar to those found on any household electrical device used anywhere but still retaining a bizarrely feminine figure save the occasional electrical component he couldn't identify jutting from it at odd places. The only other notable feature he noticed from his position were its deep red eyes that seemed to look like partially dimmed screens.

/===== _To be Continued_ =====/

/==========================================================================================================/

 **Stand name: ?**

 **Destructive power; ?**

 **Speed; ?**

 **Range; ?**

 **Durability/staying; ?**

 **Precision; ?**

 **Development potential/Learning; ?**

 **User: Nora Valkyrie**

 **Abilities: Uncertain**

/==========================================================================================================/

 **AN: And like that initiation comes to a close and the teams are assigned. What bizarre fates and encounters awaits Jaune as he starts his tutalage in Beacon? How will he escape Nora's clutches? And how will he solve the mysteries plaguing him? Find out next time on _Jaune Arc's Bizarre Adventure_.**

 **PS: happy holidays everyone.**


	13. Chapter 13

"What?" he gagged. ' _OH CRAP! She's trying to kill me!_ ' his mind screamed.

"Oh my Gods you can see her too!" Nora practically squealed "That makes things so much easier."

"That's your stand?" he somehow managed as his muscles tensed up.

"Is that what you call your spirit? ' _Stand_ '?" Nora asked tilting her head slightly. "Mine is named _Electronic_. You have no idea how good it is to meet someone with the same problem as me."

"What problem?" he froze.

"Evil spirits silly. If you have one then you must have been hit by the arrow too." she said with a mock scowl before she got off his bed, moved to her bed and stated rummaging through her belongings.

"What arrow?" he asked as he focused his vision on her.

She was calm and collected, nothing about her posture suggested that she had any hostility towards him. On her face was a pleasant expression, which was to be expected as evidenced by her current actions and he could tell that she was apparently having an internal debate as to which of what was no doubt a long series of question she was going to ask first or in which order to do so. He knew he would if he was as ignorant of stands, their abilities and how they related to their masters as Nora apparently was. Fortunately for him, her stand had vanished shortly after she got off his bed and right now their seemed to be little to no chance that she was going to try and murder him with it, but given what little he currently knew about her he couldn't be certain if she would try to assault him if his answers proved unsatisfactory or not.

The thought of fighting Nora in their dorm wasn't a pleasant one, for better or worse they were stuck together for the foreseeable future and the last thing he wanted now was another enemy, especially one that slept only a few meters away from him.

In the end Nora pulled out an old journal from her bag. "This arrow." she stated showing him a picture of a strange arrow.

The arrow itself was nothing special save for it's head, it was shaped in an articulated manner with deep corner notches that cut into the rest of the arrow adding to the bizarrely ornate pattern imprinted on it and a strange insect carving no doubt meant for decoration. If the picture was in color he had a feeling that it would appear to be even more impressive, but all it honestly looked like to him was a fancy arrow that only a select few could afford in the era's before technology had rendered the bow and arrow largely obsolete.

"And you got your stand after you were hit by this arrow?" he asked.

With a clap she closed her journal "Yep, it started when I was young-" she started.

She gave him a short version of what happened and omitted all but the relevant points. According to her it started when she was stabbed in the back with the arrow when she was four years old, whomever it was that stabbed her, and whether she choose to tell him was something she didn't want to mention. According to her the wound should have killed her but instead it probably got infected and gave her a high fever leaving her bedridden for several days before she had miraculously recovered. Shortly after that _Electronic_ appeared for the first time and had been with her since though the best and worst times of her life being both helpful when she was alone but dangerous to those around her until she had somehow managed to gain control over it in an urban area.

"-and that's all their is to it really. I am kinda hopping that you know more about it." she concluded

"Well that's-" he started.

He had no idea what to say to her, the story was almost too bizarre to be true, yet he could not detect anything resembling a lie as Nora told it to him which meant that either their was truly a practically magical arrow that could awaken stands in people out in the world somewhere or Nora's story was somehow false. However given the bizarre things that he experienced in the last week he was more inclined to believe her especially when she showed him a strange hole in her back which had appeared to be about the size of a coin and was roughly where an arrow wound to the human heart would be. If such a thing existed then he was certain that Dio would know more, after all the man seemed to know everything.

"Nora, I truly don't know much about the arrow itself but I think I can get in touch with someone who does."

"Really? You mean it?" she asked, her face brightening up.

"Yep." he couldn't deny the warm feeling blossoming through him, Nora clearly needed help and right now he was the only one ho could help her. His mother would be proud that he was doing the 'right thing' -especially for a girl who may marry him in the future- and Dio would be happy because this made Nora easier to manipulate should he decide to do so.

"Good, because if you're lying to me, I'll kill you." she venomously said as an evil smile crept across her face "You know I can do it too." she reminded him as an aura of malice seemed to ooze from her.

"Good to know." he said tying to hide the fear and surprise under this sudden turn of events, suddenly he didn't feel so warm anymore. "By the way what can your stand do? If I am going to help you I am going to need to know as much as possible" he asked trying to make things less tense.

Learning what she was capable of would also give him an advantage should he have to fight her for any reason in the future, if he could figure out how her stand operated without revealing any of his abilities then he could easily think of ways to counter them and since Nora was his team mate he reasoned that thier was no harm in asking.

"What she can do are personal secrets. If you get me the information I want then I will tell you, how does that sound?" she asked.

' _Damn it!_ ' he silently cursed "Deal." He said holding out his right hand. All things considered it was probably the best he was going to get at this time.

/-/

He sighed blissfully, the Vytal was in full swing with the stalls, vendors and more present almost everywhere on the fair grounds outside the coliseum. He smiled as pride filled his chest and his team followed him within the collusion. It was their turn to fight now in the opening rounds and he was determined to win and something assured him that he would win. He slowed down slightly as the announcer started giving a hyped-up introduction to the team and stepped into the light of the coliseum and was met be the cheers of their apparent fans. On the battle ground across from them stood their opponents or victims as Nora so eloquently put it.

' _The fools_.' he mused ' _They have no idea what they are in for_.' With a smile and one final step he entered the stage and heard a high pitched whistle sound out.

"GOOOOD MORNING TEAM RWBY!" he swore he heard Ruby yell out after he woke from his dream.

' _Damn it Ruby_.' he thought as he pushed himself out of bed with a yawn.

After greeting his team who collectively were somewhere between ready for the day and getting starting on that process. He shuffled towards the bathroom for his morning shower, another shrill whistle sound, this time muffled by the doors effectively killing any chance of him falling asleep again. As he stepped into the shower he happily noted that the boiling hot water he loved so much was still available to him and sighed. Today he would start his tutelage at Beacon where professors with years of experience and experts in their respective fields would impart their wisdom upon him. The thoughts made him giddy and he sincerely hopped that he wasn't going to squeal like a girl at the first awesome thing he saw, then again an almost silent voice from somewhere in the deep, dark parts of his mind told him not to expect to much in that regard and he had to pause and wonder what that meant.

After his shower he stopped to look in the mirror and smiled, his reflection smiled back. His muscular frame, while not overly muscular was just enough to be impressive and with a rare confidence he swore he could almost feel it, that moment that tells you ' _from now on things will be different_ '. As it seemed to washed over him along with a bizarre comfort he couldn't understand at that time, he noticed something move in the mirror. Behind him he saw Pyrrha wearing Beacon's trade marked uniform as she sat down on her bed, coincidentally the one that was also the closest to the bathroom, as she finished putting her shoes on before getting up and vanishing behind the door frame.

His smile dropped ' _wait a minute_.' he thought as he realized just how familiar the scene was.

"Hurry up Jaune we have class starting soon." she called out to him.

"WHAT?" he yelled out as he quickly twisted himself around.

/-/

"That's actually pretty funny." Ruby giggled from beside him.

"It is when you think about it." Yang said from beside her sister, whether that was a subtle jab at him or not he didn't really care for at this point and instead mumbled under his breath.

"And that is why you wear rubber slippers in the bathroom." Weiss inputted from next to Yang.

' _Yes thank you Weiss._ ' his brain echoed.

"Should we invest in a set of slippers Ren?" Nora asked from beside Pyrrha who sat next to him.

"We should be fine if we are careful." Ren answered.

Jaune could only grumble angrily, he could only blame himself for slipping on the tiled floor and slamming his head into the side of the sink, all because of whatever ' _that_ ' was. And by that he meant the bizarre event that played out almost exactly like what happened when he had pushed himself to the bathroom after seeing Pyrrha for the first time, thankfully he was able to brush it off as panic from thinking he was going to be late to his first class at Beacon -which was never a good way to start the semester- which resulted in Pyrrha apologizing for apparently startling him. While it was a little embarrassing for him, he was willing to take it as long as it avoided any uncomfortable questions like if he was crazy or something equally as bad, or trying to explain the phenomenon that occurred less than an hour ago to his team.

He grumbled something as Blake contributed her two lien to the conversation from beside Weiss. Whatever the phenomenon actually was would require a proper investigation if he did not want to be surprised again. The best idea he had now was something akin to predicting the future or advanced foresight, which, thankfully was a topic that was discussed time and time again and written down in literature as a phenomenon that did actually occur in regular intervals or bizarre circumstances if he was remembering correctly.

He let a small smile sneak its way into his lips, despite whatever it was he had a lead, granted it wasn't a good lead or even a mediocre one at least now he had something to go on, which when compared to the wild theories he had from the night before seemed like a huge step in the right direction. If he was correct and the bizarre phenomenon was somehow connected to his stand, he could figure out more about it's abilities and when he did he could probably figure out a method to test and learn how to control it better. Something which would without a doubt save his life in the future.

"Shush class is starting." Ruby hissed.

"Huh?" he blurted as his attention was brought back to reality.

Standing in the middle of the classroom was a _slightly overweight_ man with a burgundy suit with gold buttons, a _thick grey_ _mustache_ and pants tucked into what for all intents and purposes looked like cavalry boots. And while Jaune couldn't be sure it seemed as though their professor was squinting as he took a deep breath, extended his arm towards the seemingly hand-drawn posters of the various Grimm species and their well known physical traits and began his lecture.

"Monsters! Demons. Prowlers of the night. Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I know them only as 'prey'."

' _Oh sweet Dio._ ' Jaune internally groaned as a bizarrely familiar sense of dread washed over him and his head began to slowly fall into his folded arms.

 **AN: hey all, sorry for the short chapter but things have become even more hectic on my end since the new year started, sadly I am unsure if I can keep the fic going at a constant rate. I will still do my best to release new chapters at a constant rate and am not giving up on this fic. Thanks for your support so far and happy 2018 everyone.**


	14. Chapter 14

Ruby panted as she rushed down the street followed closely by her new friend.

"Ruby wait!" she called.

"Can't miss it. Can't miss it." Ruby intoned as she dashed the final few feet. She flew through the door and tumbled into the front desk.

"Is it here?" she asked as she pulled herself up.

"Yep. You're the first one here." the man behind the desk said as he handed her prize to her.

"Ruby what is it?" her friend asked as she finally caught up to her.

"Its the new chapter of _Jaune Arc's Bizarre Adventure_. It's finally here!" Ruby squealed in delight.

/==========================================================================================================/

"Finally it's over." Jaune exclaimed as the hunters exited their first _Grimm Studies_ class of the semester, happy to distance themselves from their professor _Peter Port_ as he started packing his teaching tools and began preparation for his next class or whatever else the teachers at Beacon did when hey weren't teaching or supervising activities.

He sighed, his first class at Beacon had started off promising, that was until his teacher opened his mouth. First he tried to make a joke in a vain attempt to break any tension while making him seem more accessible and friendly towards the students. When it became obvious that he failed he quickly moved on and gave the class a brief introduction to himself and skimmed over his many, many accomplishments, which in hind sight should have been everyone's first clue to their teacher's apparently narcissistic and self-absorbed nature, but considering that he was a certified professor teaching Grimm Studies at one of the four top huntsmen training institutions in the world it was quite possible that he had actually accomplished several of the feats he had claimed to have done when he was about their age.

That was before he started a long lecture, no that was the wrong word, _tall-tale_ would be more appropriate given that the professor had spent the first hour telling them about how he had tracked a pack of Boarbatusks across a dark forest sometime after midnight, lured them to a gully before he claimed to have diverted part of a nearby river to flood said gully using nothing more than his trusty blunderbuss-axe, physical strength and willpower before setting out to strangle the survivors with his bare hands. Jaune had stopped paying attention sometime when his teacher started imitating how he strangled the third Grimm to survive the man made flash flood and instead decided to keep himself busy by experimenting with his stand's ability to manipulate time hopping it could speed up time as well as slow it down only to find out to his distinct displeasure that it could only slow time, not make it move faster like he had then wanted leaving him to suffer though the boredom of listening to Peter prattle on about his past.

After concluding his experimentation with his abilities and discovering he still had about an hour left of class he considered drifting off to his private realm to ask Dio about the arrow but ultimately decided against it. Not only because it would be extremely rude to 'leave' and deal with his own personal problems while the professor was dedicating a couple hours to try and teach them important lessons -key word being trying- but because he didn't want to be called to answer some question he and currently half the class probably wasn't paying attention to, a mistake he did not want to make again, besides he guessed he still had at least a few hours until Nora decided to ambush him somewhere so their was no need to rush.

Finally the class concluded with a very one-sided fight between Nora and a single Boarbatusk that Peter kept caged in the corner of the room, in doing so she revealed a little more about her stand. Like the fight with the Nevermore the day before the bout ended far too quickly via a single strike of Nora's war hammer that the Boarbatusk should have easily been able to avoid or parry but didn't. With time slowed down to a near crawl and his vision focused entirely on Nora he saw the reason as to why, as her hammer started descending upon the Grimm's skull the metallic arm of her stand _Electronic_ , materialized and reached out to grab the creature's snout, piercing it with the almost needle like protrusions and likely delivering a paralyzing electrical discharge before withdrawing leaving the Grimm to buckle under it's momentum before falling victim to Nora's hammer. Despite the slow momentum of time the stand seemed to move at lightning speeds, attacking and withdrawing in the time it took the beast to finish a single step, with speeds such as that it probably would be difficult to keep up with her should the worst come to pass.

"So what do we have next?" Nora asked, breaking Jaune's train of thought.

"I just hope whatever it is it's better than Grimm Studies." Jaune commented.

"I guess we shall find out." Pyrrha smiled.

/-/

"WHO!? WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!?" the woman known as _professor Peach_ screamed at the crowd of students gathered around her.

Pangs of guilt passed through Jaune as he watched his teacher suffer from her very public breakdown, he couldn't help it as he was in some way responsible for this or so his conscience kept telling him. The reason she was so angry was because the classroom -her classroom- just so happened to be the same one that he had fought Yang in the day before and unintentionally destroyed, however she was currently more angry than he felt was justifiable for the demolition of her classroom.

"We should probably leave." Jaune whispered to his team trying to draw as little attention as possible to himself. Whether she lost something of importance to her or was simply venting her rage he did not want to be around long enough for her to come to her senses and possibly come to suspect him as being responsible.

"What do we do now?" Pyrrha asked once they had pushed their way out of the crowd.

"It seems as though we have a free period now we could look around and see what facilities Beacon has to offer." Ren pointed out.

"That's a grand idea. It would be better for us to discover what additional benefits and facilities Beacon academy has to offer us outside the standard curriculum before everyone else starts looking into them." Pyrrha said.

"You know what lets do that." Jaune agreed.

Without a classroom or a teacher calm enough to spend the period teaching them it freed up about two hours for the team to do whatever they wanted, time which he wanted to use to meet with Dio and get all the information he would need to satisfy or at the very least placate Nora. Unlike Yang Nora had a stand which could paralyze him should she get a single hit on him, but because it was apparently an electric based stand which could take down a giant Nevermore with a supercharged grenade he felt safe assuming that she would not even need to touch him to paralyze him meaning that any battles between him and her would be little more than a sudden death round with the victor being the one who could strike first. Now that he was going to spend a period wondering around the campus with his team he would need an excuse to separate himself from them so he could go meet with his mentor. That excuse came in the form of a bathroom break and a promise to meet with them in the cafeteria just before their lunch period began.

/-/

"Good day Dio." Jaune greeted his much loved mentor after he entered the private realm.

Dio greeted him with a sly smile. "Jaune, what brings you to see me today?"

"I am in need of your help." Jaune told him rather bluntly, time was currently not on his side for it moved differently in the private realm when compared to the real world, every moment he spent with Dio would take about one or two minutes of time in the real world. And while variation and exemptions did of course apply those tended to be few and far in between so he couldn't waste any time entertaining Dio with pleasantries.

"Oh? And what can I, Dio, do to help you Jaune?" Dio said, apparently catching onto his dilemma.

Jaune sighed "Their is a girl I have recently met who can prove herself to be either an excellent ally or a devastating foe. In order to secure her allegiance I need information, information about _the arrow_."

"Hmm, I seem to recall already telling you about it." Dio said coyly.

"Yes. You told me about the known history of the arrow, but the knowledge I require at this time is how the arrow itself relates to the acquisition of stands and if their are more than one in the world at this time." Jaune said as he leaned foreword.

Dio smirked "Very well, listen well for this information shall not be repeated again."

"I am listening." Jaune spoke as he focused all his attention on Dio.

"As you know much of the arrows history is unknown to the people of this world either having been lost with the fall of the civilization that discovered and created them or to the cruel passage of time. However what is known is that they first appeared over fifty-thousand years ago with a meteorite that landed in the dark continent." Dio began.

"Yes. Then some people found it and made arrows out of it thinking they would get the power of god." Jaune interrupted.

"Correct. However what I have not told you was that these people had made multiple arrows and of those arrows currently six are known to exist in this world. I know this because a man named _Diavolo_ stole them from the Vacuan desert and sold 5 of these arrows to my faithful servant _Enya the hag_ who aided me in the discovery of the gifts they can bestow upon the worthy, however he decided to keep the sixth one for himself. Since then the arrows have become scattered and as a result their fate and current locations are currently unknown to me."

"So their are at least 6 arrows out there." Jaune mused "How exactly does getting pierced by the arrows relate to people getting stands?"

Dio frowned "That is a mystery that baffles even the geniuses of the mighty _Speedwagon Foundation_ to this day. However what has been confirmed is that those pierced by the arrow will gain a stand should they be strong enough spiritually, it does not matter if they are a man, woman, child, elder or animal. In that regard it would be best to think of the arrows themselves as living organisms, instinctively drawn to the mighty for my servant Enya once claimed that the arrow sought me out and compelled her to use it to pierce my body."

"Huh." Jaune intoned "Is their anything else you can tell me?"

Dio paused to think for a moment before speaking "Their are two more confirmed facts about the arrow's ability to bestow stands upon those it pierces. The first being that such power can be gifted to later generations through the bloodline of the one who was pierced, such was the case with the _Joestar_ bloodline. The second fact is that the arrows will continue to seek out the worthy for as long as the insect carving on the head of the arrow remains intact."

"Interesting." Jaune mused as Dio concluded his lesson, it had -just as he had expected it to- given him all the answers he needed in order to deal with Nora and raised several interesting points to think about in the future.

"Before I leave I am wondering if you wouldn't mind answering a few more questions for me?" Jaune asked.

/-/

"So you skipped class as well huh?" his nemesis casually commented as she took a seat diagonal to him.

"Yeah, I mean how could we have class when the classroom itself had been destroyed and the teacher was having a breakdown?" he said hopping his posture or face didn't give anything away.

"I mean, who? Who would do that?" Weiss asked.

"A disgruntled student maybe?" Pyrrha suggested from next to him.

"Someone with a bad temper?" Ruby called out from across him.

"Someone with a score to settle." Nora intoned trying to be as dramatic as possible.

' _Definitely all of those._ ' Jaune thought as nervousness started shimmying its way through him.

"This is unacceptable!" Weiss barked "We are students at Beacon academy, one of the most prestigious huntsmen academies in all of Remnant. We shouldn't have to suffer because of one person's negligence or vendetta."

"Uhh?" Jaune began.

"Don't mind her she's just mad that she doesn't have another professor to suck up to." Blake pointed out with a smile.

' _Yeah that sounds like her._ ' a voice in the back of Jaune's head spoke as Weiss gawked at her team mate.

"Soooo. What did you do when you left the classroom." Ruby asked, subtly trying to change the conversation.

"We just explored the campus you?"

"Lucky you." Yang said with enough sarcasm to choke on.

"Weiss made us stay for almost forty five minutes to see if either the teacher would calm down or someone else would tell us that we are having her class somewhere else." Ruby started.

"Then when we received no instructions snow flake practically dragged us to the administrations office to demand answers." Yang practically growled.

"I did not 'drag' you, you simply followed me of your own volition to the administration's office." Weiss pointedly said.

"Keep telling yourself that." Jaune heard Blake whisper.

"Then when they didn't have the answers she wanted she ' _insisted_ '-" Yang emphasized by flexing two fingers on each hand "-that we go to the headmaster about it."

"How did that go?" Nora asked.

"About as well as you would expect." Blake answered.

"He assured us that the situation would be dealt with appropriately." Weiss interrupted.

"He thanked us for informing him then told us to leave." Ruby said.

"He did not tell us to simply 'leave'." Weiss snapped.

"Fine, he ' _ushered_ ' us out. Better?" Ruby sarcastically intoned.

"I suppose." Weiss conceded.

"But it makes you wonder who is responsible." Pyrrha pointed out.

"The good professor did start promising bloody vengeance as we left." Blake said.

"Oooh, someone's going to be in deep trouble." Nora replied with an evil smile.

"Yeah, that poor person." Yang said clearly trying not to give anything away as she glared at him.

"Oh I am sure everyone responsible will be punished." he gentry retorted.

Jaune smiled as Yang frowned at him, despite her brutish nature she knew exactly what kind of situation she was in, it was a kind of mutually ensured destruction in that if anyone were to find out that they were responsible for demolishing Peach's classroom they would both suffer from Peach's punishment on top of whatever the administration would subject them to. He could only confidently smirk with as she focused her gaze on him, not only did she need to figure out how to throw him under the proverbial bus, but she also had to figure out how she was going to get off scoot free or at the very least with a lesser punishment for her role in the vandalism. Until then the only real threat he faced would be if someone else discovered the truth either through pure luck, negligence during their cover-up or through Ruby, but their was no way she was going to turn on them not when it carried the very real risk of loosing both her best friend and older sister via expulsion or worse. Although the look on her face oddly enough didn't reassure him at all once she realized the context of the silent conversation between him and Yang.

"So what class do we have next?" she asked, once again trying to change the conversation.

/-/

To his surprise he found himself back in the auditorium where headmaster Ozpin and his current teacher deputy headmistress Glynda Goodwitch had conducted the naming ceremony for the newly inducted teams the day before. As the hunters took their seats on the balcony he began to feel doubt creep into his mind and began wondering if they were in the right place, while the map and their schedule did tell them to be here at this time for combat class it was quite possible that the administration had made a mistake somewhere when placing the class as the auditorium itself looked more suitable for something akin to a theater class or a concert based on what he could see of it's design. His doubts however were quickly demolished when Glynda Goodwitch appeared on stage and gave them a frilly speech announcing how she would be supervising combat class as well as several other classes and activities designed to improve their combat abilities and effectiveness before explaining the rules of the tournament style combat they would be adhering to and calling for a volunteer to take part in the first match of the semester, when nobody did she scanned the audience for a conscript and ordered him to the arena almost as soon as she locked eyes with him.

He wanted to object to this but gave up as soon as he got a good look at his teacher's face, he didn't need to use his ability to accurate analyse facial expressions and body language to know she wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer as the look she gave him made it so blatantly obvious that he doubted even the dullest of students would misunderstand her intentions.

"Good luck." Nora called as he passed by his team.

"Kick some butt!" his best friend cheered.

' _We have to fight him again?_ ' a voice spoke as he passed a pair of bored looking medics loitering in one of the doorways.

"Uh, did you say something?" he asked one of them.

"No." the man's reply was short and to the point.

"Huh." ' _Voices again, not good._ ' Jaune thought as he continued down the hallway.

As he entered the arena the ever familiar face of the boy known as _Cardin Winchester_ smiled back at him, cocky and confident that he would achieve supreme victory over him. something about seeing Cardin's face made Jaune want to punch it, or at the very least throw a brick at him.

As he climbed onto the stage though he blinked in confusion as a very different sight greeted him, instead of Cardin there was a boy whose appearance Jaune could only describe as bizarre. He was slim and about average height with one of his most notable features being a _lime-colored mohawk_ , he wore dark-grey pants, knee high boots, a very pale long sleeved shirt that for the most part seemed unnoticeable along under a green hoodie that was missing it's sleeves with a spiked shoulder pad on his left and only the left shoulder as well as a pair of bracers on his forearms with a bird design engraved onto them. In each hand he held a long bladed dagger with a slight curve each with a dust chamber augmentation where the guard would be. He stood with what Jaune assumed was a power stance with his feet parallel to his hips but pointing outward, one hand relaxing on his hip while the other was tense but straight as he let it hand in front of him he angled his chin upwards as though to look down upon Jaune despite being shorter than him with an expression of thuggish disgust on his face.

"Where's Cardin?" Jaune asked trying to make sense of what was going on while doing his best to keep his face as neutral as possible.

"What you think I am not good enough?" the boy demanded as he seemed to suddenly appear next to Jaune putting the tip of one of the knives to his neck.

" _Russel Thrash_ volunteered to face you as soon as you had left Mr. Arc. He will be your opponent for today." his teacher clarified for him.

' _A hallucination just before battle? This can't be good._ ' Jaune realized as Russel retreated several steps back.

"Aren't you lucky to be surrounded by such beautiful women." Russel jabbed.

"What about it?" Jaune questioned.

"Tch. I hate guys like you the most, you have it so easy when it comes to getting girls. You don't have to do anything and they practically fall into your arms while guys like me do everything we can and aren't given a second glance." Russel grunted.

"Oh really?" Jaune questioned.

"Of course I have picked up many hobbies such as ballroom dancing, gardening, whittling, knitting, acrobatics, playing the violin, and acting over the course my life all in an effort to charm women. All skills I am certain my great-grandfather, a powerful man named _Okuyasu Nijimura_ could only wish he had when he was looking for a wife."

"Really?" Jaune asked, more in an effort to try to politely bring the conversation to a close than actual interest.

"Of course, having hobbies outside of killing Grimm is important for a huntsman's sanity, I just happen to have many hobbies which to fall back on. What do you have?" Russel challenged.

Holding back his temper Jaune smugly said "Much of what you will never understand." as he drew his blade and shield.

"Gentlemen if you are finished with the banter I would like to proceed with the match." their teacher interrupted.

Russel took a low stance, a hand behind his back as his other held the dagger down my his foot. "This won't be fun, and I won't hold back!"

' _I should finish this quickly._ ' Jaune thought as he charged at Russel.

As he swung his sword at him Russel seemed to bend almost 90 degrees backwards in order to avoid the strike and like a bent branch launched forward with one of his main knives aiming for Jaune's face. In response Jaune brought his shield up quicker than he thought he could without slowing time, slamming the edge onto Russel's wrist causing him to let go of the blade.

' _First knife._ ' Jaune thought as Russel swung at him with his second dagger. he smiled as he dodged what in the end was a lazy swing and knocked it away with his sword.

' _Second knife._ ' Jaune happily thought as it landed with a thud embedding itself in the arena floor and swung his shield at his foe. As he recoiled Jaune charged forward eager to end the match, now that Russel was disarmed it would be easy to force him to surrender as per the tournament style rules that they were supposed to adhere to for these matches. As he did Russel twisted and flung himself backwards and something flashed in his vision. His fell backwards almost as if someone kicked him in the back of the knees while the momentum carried him forward.

' _Third knife!?_ ' he thought as it sailed harmlessly over him.

"Look what I found." Russel said after he cartwheeled backwards a couple times. He landed with a low slide and drew his hands out from behind him to unveil a half dozen daggers between them.

' _Oh this is bad._ ' Jaune realized.

Pushing off the ground into one heavy front flip, he let loose a long volley of knives, one pinning Jaune's foot to the floor through his shoe, the rest tearing through his pants and anchoring him to the floor.

"Huh?" he yelled out as Russel flipped to the side and unleashed another volley at him, as he swung his shield to protect himself he found it pulled to the ground as the knives, each one connected by what had become a net of wires, effectively pinning his shield to the floor.

"What?" Jaune yelled out.

"This is the end Jaune." Russel yelled out as he leaped several feet into the air launching a final barrage of knives "This is my victory."

"Shit!" Jaune swore as he swung his sword knocking away a couple knives but failing to stop the rest as they sliced at his arm and body.

"No matter I can do this all day." Russel announced as more knives flew towards him.

Forcing time to slow down he swung his blade in wide arcs deflecting the majority of the knives Russel threw at him while the rest landed harmlessly around him.  
"That attack won't work twice." Jaune barked.

"Who said it was the same attack?" Russel smiled. As a slight confusion gripped him the arena seemed to detonate in a blaze of metal fragments and light.

"Those knives were filled with red dust and primed to explode after about three seconds so in the end it did not matter if you could deflect them or not." Russel proudly spoke.

"Oh, that's, actually a nice trick." Jaune managed as he forced himself to his feet.

"Wow, you actually took all that reasonably well, I'm impressed. Although you did leave your shield behind" Russel almost mocked as he pointed to Jaune's shield still pinned by a net of wires to the floor.

"Who said I needed my shield to beat you?" Jaune had to ask.

"My good friend _Knife Party_." Russel barked as a barrage of knives flew towards him.

Forcing time to slow down he focused his vision on the knives coming towards him, while his knowledge of knives was limited to their use in the kitchen he could easily see which one contained an explosive charge via a packaged charge in the only knife with a handle consisting of a metal loop. He allowed the mundane knives to pass by as he maneuvered to grab the last one.

"I believe this is yours." Jaune yelled as he prepared to throw the explosive knife back at it's owner. He was interrupted when he felt something sharp slash into the back of his knee causing him to scream out in pain and fall onto that knee right before the knife he held exploded in his hand.

"You keep it I have many knives." Russel said as he caught a knife that was bizarrely enough shaped like a boomerang.

"Huh? What's going on?" Jaune asked as his vision blurred and his body started to stiffen.

"Oh did I not tell you? That knife had more than red dust in it, their was also some insecticide, quite toxic to humans I'm afraid. It causes symptoms like headache, fatigue, nausea, cramping, blurred vision and vomiting to those who ingest it, but don't worry it won't kill you in the dose I gave you but you will probably be spending the rest of the day in the infirmary."

"You bastard." Jaune managed before his stomach turned against him.

Clutching his sword to his chest as Russel walked around him, a new pair of daggers practically phasing in his hands. "I wonder, do you plan to turn this around still?" Russel asked as a smile starts to form on his face. Jaune coughed up a bit of blood, and was hardly able to get out a gasp as Russel threw a couple knives into the air, each landing on either side of Jaune's head.

"These are my singing sirens" Russel said as a harmonic vibration started to emanate from the daggers. The frequencies emanating from them threw Jaune's mind through circles, dazing and disorienting him greatly. "My singing sirens are specially tuned and crafted knives that take the air that passes through them and in turn emanate a frequency that is known to mess with the inner ear of humans and faunus alike, on it's own it causes whomever is next to them to loose any sense of balance but combined with my insecticide I very much doubt that you would be able to stand up let alone fight anymore Jaune, pity you were almost worth the effort." Russel intoned as picked up and lazily tossed one of his primary weapons into the air in an arc towards him.

"MUDA!" Jaune roared as the arm of his stand materialized and knocked Russel's dagger back towards him at surprising speed.

"What the-?" Russel started as he barely managed to block his own dagger but was interrupted as the ground underneath Jaune seemed to explode sending him flying towards Russel.

"MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! " Jaune roared as he wailed on Russel with his sword.

"So sloppy." Russel mocked as he blocked and deflected almost every strike before a ghostly arm grabbed Russel by the wrist. A simple "Huh?" was all the boy managed to get out before he felt his wrist twist in an unnatural angle. As he screamed in pain as he felt another fist collide with his face knocking him back at least a dozen meters landing him right next to the arena's edge.

' _Now I begin my counter attack._ ' Jaune thought as he bent he angled his bent knees toward the crowd, twisted his upper body to face Russel and held his sword close to chest with both hands. Whatever Russel was going to do next Jaune would be ready to either block or dodge in any direction.

"You think you're so clever don't you?" Russel growled as he clutched his wrist. While it wasn't broken Russel would have a harder time using it now that Jaune had twisted it at an odd angle with plenty of force behind it.

"I do yes." Jaune mocked, his aura was working overtime to remove the toxins and alleviate the symptoms that came from Russel's insecticide and the bizarre knives that emanated that messed with his sense of balance.

"I guess I have to get serious." Russel smiled as he pulled out new knives and started throwing them into the air as he charged forward.

Jaune swung his sword aiming low as soon as Russel came into range and willed time to slow down as Russel flipped over it. He swung again aiming for the chest forcing Russel to block or take damage and smiled as he did, in response Jaune threw his fist foreword, now that Russel's wrist was injured he wouldn't be able to properly block his attack and even if he did he would still take a sizable amount of damage from the amount of force he and his stand were putting into this attack.

"MUDA!" he yelled as his fist connected, ' _I got you._ ' he thought before pain exploded through his hand. ' _WHAT!?_ ' he internally screamed as he looked at his hand, it was injured, the kind of injury he would expect if he punched the sharp and pointy ends of at a dozen knives at once at a slightly odd angle, such an injury shouldn't have been possible not only because Russel failed to block his fist but also because their was nothing sharp or pointy on the spot he hit that could slice through aura like that unless-

Jaune focused his vision on Russel as he landed almost perfectly on his feet. He was indeed hurt with his posture being somewhat hunched from taking a powerful blow to his flank, he was breathing heavily with obvious signs that he was in pain, but most tellingly their was a trail of blood leaking down the side of his mouth a clear indication that he took far more damage than he should have. Since Glynda had not called the match yet that meant Russel still had enough aura and as such should have been able to cushion the blow relatively safely. As Russel began to move again that he willed time to slow further and rushed to quickly close the distance, in a panic Russel gasped and quickly but not so accurately tossed a handful of knives.

"So that's your stand." Jaune said as he kneed Russel in the stomach, the boy flew back a couple meters and did a backwards roll onto his feet.

"Cat's out of the bag huh, not like I was trying to hide Knife Party anyway." Russel said as he held onto his stomach with both arms.

/=======================================================================/

 **Stand name: Knife Party**

 **Destructive power; ?**

 **Speed; ?**

 **Range; ?**

 **Durability/staying; ?**

 **Precision; ?**

 **Development potential/Learning; ?**

 **User: Russel Thrash**

 **Abilities: Unknown**

/=======================================================================/

Jaune charged again and this time Russel's stand fully materialized in front of him. It was ugly in appearance being grey in coloration and decorated with multiple spikes protruding across it's whole body practically ensuring that no matter where Jaune punched it from he would still take damage, however it seemed limited in it's range as it didn't go further than arms length from Russel. As Jaune closed the distance he it reach into one of Russel's pockets and pull out what appeared to be a small casing with a wick on the end and shove it into a hollow bladed throwing knife that was falling from a compartment in it's forearms into Russel's hand.

"MUDA!" Jaune roared as he knocked it away with his sword and roared again as he punched Russel under the jaw with his already damaged hand, he groaned in pain as Russel flew into the air and thoughts of murder and bloody retribution sneaked into his mind.

"I am not done yet." Russel announced as he threw a knife with a thin cord attached to it to the floor.

"Checkmate." Jaune yelled as he grabbed onto the knife and pulled on it with all his strength.

"Idiot, you fell for it." Russel yelled as he pulled a taser from his pocket and jabbed it into the cord sending bolts of electricity through Jaune's body right before Russel slammed into him dagger first.

"The best violin strings consist of a steel core and as such make for good conductors of electricity, since you don't play the violin like I do I doubt that you would have know that." Russel boasted as he threw several boomerang knives with cables attached to them in a wide arc.

"Damn you." Jaune growled as he tried to will his muscles into action.

"You're not going anywhere." Russel said as he closed the distance and struck Jaune with both Knife Party and his dagger both slashing a good chunk of aura away from him.  
He screamed in pain as deep cuts emerged on both his body and armor. ' _I am going to murder him!_ ' his mind screamed out practically drowning out everything else as the boomerang knives surrounded and effectively tied him to the floor.

"I told you it was my victory Jaune." Russel proudly boasted before pinning one of the cables with his foot, making Jaune even angrier "You just were too stupid to realize it." he intoned as a barrage of explosive knives and a current of electricity surged toward Jaune. He shielded his face as the shock wave, smoke and shrapnel flew from where Jaune was and briefly covered the arena "And like that I win." Russel said to nobody in particular as he turned to leave.

As he did he stiffened as felt something strange, something frightening behind him, he turned around quickly to see Jaune standing at an angle, one foot facing him, the other facing almost 90 degrees to the right, he had a bizarrely relaxed pose as he held his legs together, one hand on his hip, the other hanging by his side and managing to lean back slightly with the most smug smile he had ever seen on his face.

"I suppose I have to give you some credit." Jaune, no, not Jaune said as he sarcastically clapped his hands twice.

"WHAT! HOW?" Russel yelled "You were tied up! Steel cables have a tensile strength of forty-thousand pounds per square inch, its impossible for people to break out of that and dodge all my explosive knives at once!"

"You imbecile." Jaune spoke his tone practically silencing Russel "Did you think for a moment you could stand up to me? Nothing awaits you now but a mongrel's death! Now let's give them a show!" Jaune said arms wide.

"Gladly!" Russel yelled as he tossed more daggers into the air each landing around Jaune trapping him in a wire net, followed by strange curved blades that seemed to resemble saw blades in flight and hovered around both him and Jaune. "These knives are my most aerodynamic ones yet, and will continue to circle around us until they run out of momentum, while you may be able to get out of my net unscathed I am curious as to ho-"

Russel fell to the floor, bloody, beaten, many bones in his body broken and bruises starting to form across him, he gasped for air as the pain started overwhelming him and his body started convulsing. ' _How?_ ' was all he could think when he saw that his aerodynamic blades, both meant to contain Jaune and protect him while he thought of a new plan were still circling around both where Jaune and he should have been although Jaune was now standing next to his swarm and looking at him the same way one would look down upon a hated mongrel. Fear gripped Russel's heart as the medics sprung into action lifting him onto a stretcher and taking him to the infirmary, he gagged and coughed on the way there eventually succumbing to this injuries along the way.

/=== _Russel Thrash temporarily retired_ ===/

From the crowd Blake could only stare wide eyed in horror as Jaune smirked one last time before blinking and looked around confused as though he fell asleep in one place and woke up in a completely different one. Her body had frozen completely when she saw him change all her primal instincts screaming out in absolute fear as it became obvious what frightened her so much the first time she laid eyed upon him.

"What just happened?" Yang asked.

"It's like he was a completely different person just now." Ren answered.

"Was he always like that?" Nora nervously shifted from beside him.

"No whatever it was it clearly wasn't Jaune." Pyrrha said.

"Look how confused he is right now. Whatever that was is clearly something he is not consciously aware of." Wiess spoke.

"You mean like a split personality or something?" Ruby asked.

"Well whatever that was lets hope that's the worst thing we will have to deal with." Yang said as she got up to leave.

/-/

"After you." the boy smiled and bowed sarcastically as he opened the door for _Roman Torchwich_ and his partner _Neopolitan_.

"Gee thanks." Roman intoned as he strode through the door.

"What does she want now?" He asked to nobody in particular as the door closed behind him.

Their was barely any light in the hallway as he proceeded, this was no doubt meant to try and unnerve him before he met _her_ and while he was used to simple intimidation tactics as he often employed them when diplomacy failed what was bizarre about this situation was that she was meeting him here. This warehouse belonged to one of his rivals in the underworld a man calling himself 'Hammer' which he both knew and to some degree respected despite their mutual animosity towards each other. He was a man known for fighting till the bitter end for any advantage no matter the odds which both helped him earn a solid reputation in the underworld and put him in his current seat of power as 'manager' of the docks both legal and illegal activates.

He couldn't help but smile as for the first time in their shared history he didn't need to bring a small mob of hired thugs along with Neo to a meeting with 'Hammer', although having that woman there was no doubt going to complicate things. Should things get complicated was certain he could rely on his partner Neo to get him out of it, after all he had yet to meet anyone who couldn't be fooled by her powers.

As he opened the door at the end of the hallway he couldn't help but frown when he saw her, his 'employer' -as she so eloquently labelled herself- _Cinder Fall_ as she turned to greet him she smiled, not a warm or friendly smile, the kind of smile you would make when your cute puppy came to lick your feet.

"Roman how good of you to come." she said with faux friendliness.

"Well considering your pests out front 'insisted' I figured that it was the least I can do." Roman retorted "Now what do you want?"

She smirked, then giggled as though she had been told a funny joke in polite company "Oh are you so eager to get rid of me?"

' _YES!_ ' was what he wanted to scream at her, but fought against it. "I have things to do, every moment I spend here is a moment I could be planning and executing the jobs you 'asked' me to do." he said instead.

The way she smiled made him nervous, it was friendly, too friendly. It looked more like a smile you would give your best friend when he delivered on a promise, the way his lover would smile when she got something nice from him or even the way Neo would smile before she started toying with her next 'plaything'. Cinder always smiled like that before she made some kind of demand from him.

"Roman it's precisely because of your duties to me that I have called you here. I am certain that you are familiar with 'Hammer'?" she smirked as the man in question, beaten, tied and bloody gagged something from his chair.

"What the hell?" Roman asked.

"You see Roman 'Hammer' failed to deliver what I asked him for and had the gall to ask me for more despite my already abundant generosity towards him." Cinder started as she placed a hand on the man's shoulder making him squirm and flinch "This is where you come in." she said as she sauntered towards him, pulling his cigar from his mouth as she did "Since 'Hammer' failed to give me what I asked of him I need someone else to do it for me." she said as she sauntered back to the man stuffing Roman's cigar in his mouth.

"Let me guess you want me to take over for him." Roman said.

"Correct Roman. I expect you to deliver to me results where 'Hammer' had failed. And should you fail well." she paused.

To Roman's horror 'Hammer's' eyes bulged outward and he started bloating, Cinder backed away as he expanded and eventually exploded outward leaving nothing but steam and ash behind.

"I do believe actions speak louder than words." Cinder said as she sauntered away leaving a fearful Roman to try and process what just happened.

/=======================================================================/

 **Stand name: Knife Party**

 **Destructive power; C**

 **Speed; B**

 **Range; E**

 **Durability/staying; C**

 **Precision; A**

 **Development potential/Learning; A**

 **User: Russel Thrush**

 **Abilities: Knife Party can materialize an unlimited amount of knives and place them in the hands of it's master. It can materialize as many as is needed in the moment. These knives can be dispelled at will. While materialized they can be detected and used by others, including non-stand users.**

/=======================================================================/

Ruby fell into a kneeling position as she finished the chapter.

"Ruby what's wrong?" her friend asked.

"I finished the chapter." she said. "Now I have to wait a while for the next one to come out."

 **AN: special thanks to my friend who helped me finally get this chapter done. Sorry for the long wait everyone.**


	15. Chapter 15

"Seems like forever since we were here." Blake commented as she and Yang walked down the corridors of the freshly reclaimed Beacon dormitories.  
"Yeah, its been years and so much has happened, I wonder of our bunk beds are still intact." Yang casually replied.  
"Why don't we find out?" Blake challenged as they proceeded inwards.  
"I can't believe its still here!" Ruby practically squealed when Yang and Blake walked into their former bedroom.  
"Ruby what is it?" Yang asked.  
"My copy of the 15th chapter of Jaune Arc's Bizarre Adventure! I thought it was lost to time forever!" she happily proclaimed as she sat down to read it

/============================================================================================================/

Jaune groaned deeply as he leaned back onto one of the library's wooden chairs. It wasn't very comfortable but he couldn't bring himself to move, not before resting a couple minutes first. With a lazy hand he reached out and closed perhaps the fifteenth book he read that day, and for perhaps the fifteenth time that day the distinct sense of disappointment passed through him as just like every other book he had read in the last three weeks it failed to properly answer any of the questions he had in relation to any of his stand's powers or stands in general. Looking across the table he saw his study buddy Nora fared little better as she was currently lying face down on her book, which he had to admit was a sight which that continued to surprise him given how enthusiastic and energetic she normally was.

When Nora first lead him to Beacon's main library he couldn't help but feel astonished, it was easily the size of a great hall that mythic heroes of lore would build, inherit or otherwise reside in before or after their legendary quests, the banners that hung from the arches bearing Beacon's symbol only served to reinforce the point. The bookshelves themselves were easily taller than the majority of the buildings back in Sino and packed to the brim with books as well as hard drives that contained data easily accessible through the holographic terminals. Three weeks ago he was certain that he would find all the information he would need in order to figure out how his stand worked and how he could control it but now it seemed more akin to an exercise in futility.

While their was no shortage of articles, books and other mediums that claimed to provide information on predicting the future, time manipulation and possible explanations to his bizarre echo locator ability their was relatively little that he could use outside of the theory portion of his classes. And given how frustrated Nora was at the end of each trip he could safely guess she hadn't found any of the answers she wanted either.

With a quick glance at his silver pocket watch he forced himself up, lunch would be starting soon and with it came perhaps the only chance he had to relax and recharge before his next class with professor _Bartholomew Oobleck_ and his continuing lecture on the faunus revolution.

"Nora, its time to wake up we have lunch now." he said as he gently nudged Nora from her slumber. With a sloth-like motion Nora raised her head. He choked down a laugh as the normally hyperactive and overly-friendly girl gave him the same nasty look any of his sisters would give him when he woke them early in the morning.

"Did you find anything?" she finally asked when he didn't explode or otherwise die horribly.

"No but we do need to go now. Come on we can always come back tomorrow." he replied as he helped her to her feet.

He couldn't help but smirk as she stumbled through the exit, it wasn't the first time she fell asleep in the library while searching for any information relevant to her or his stand and while she would go back to being her usual excitable self within minutes and announce her intent to continue the endeavor tomorrow he kept wishing they would find something relevant already.

As he exited the library shortly the door closed behind her, he was greeted by what for all intents and purposes looked like an art gallery. It's violet walls a clear contrast to the grey and brown of Beacon's library. As he stepped in he couldn't help but be drawn to each piece present, some were works he saw in old art books, others were new to him and others he found just bizarre.

One had a pair of farmers with eyes so realistic he swore that someone was hiding behind the painting just watching him, another depicted armored horsemen charging hopelessly outnumbered into hordes of Grimm and achieving victory despite overwhelming odds, a third showed a woman that he initially thought was one of his sisters or mother wearing an oriental turban and exotic dress with what for all intents and purposes looked like an improbably large pearl earring. Those were the first in a series of pieces that he swore he could spend an eternity looking at without loosing interest.

Oddly enough the most eye-catching were what was what could no doubt be called street art, entire walls painted in mosaic depicting people he didn't know and various aspects of society, hundreds of tiny emblems and images painted carefully around doors, windows and other more 'conventional' artwork and more original pieces he swore could not have been done by anything other than an expert artist. He continued on until he came across a somewhat bland image fitted into an ornate frame. Whether it was due to the quality of the other artworks or something else entirely, the relative blandness of it stood out. In it was an image of a giant Ursa looming over a downed figure as it tried to defend itself with a large weapon in a beautiful red forest, not so unlike the _forever fall forest_ he and his friends would be soon visiting with Goodwitch in about a weeks time serving as the background.

Something about it was bizarre, unlike the others he saw until now this one looked almost like a photograph with a clarity that seemed to burn itself into his brain. After several moments he swore the Ursa moved for the briefest of instances, he leaned in closer and narrowed his eyes until he could feel his breath off the piece. As he did he saw the Ursa's eye shift to look at him, with a gasp he tried to back away but found himself unable to. Before he could react the Ursa suddenly snapped at him, extending it's head out of the painting to bite him over the head.

He woke up suddenly with a yelp as the nightmare ended.

"Jaune are you alright?" His partner asked.

He turned to her "Just a bad dream." he said trying his best to force a convincing smile and slow his frantic breathing.

"Oooh, what happened." Nora asked from her bed propping her head up with her arm.

"I was, attacked. By a giant Ursa. Weirdly enough it happened after we left Beacon's library." 'Probably because we're spending too much time there.' his brain pointed out.

"That's not so bad." Nora casually commented.

"Do you think it has anything to do with the upcoming forever fall trip? I know Ruby has been nervous about it." Pyrrha asked.

"I, I think so." he continued after failing to come up with a good explanation 'but why the art gallery?' his brain asked.

"Jaune if you are anxious about it you can talk to us or our friends in team RWBY. If you still feel bad you can always talk to the teachers or perhaps a Councillor, Beacon provides services for anyone who needs it free of charge." Pyrrha said as she sat down on the edge of his bed.

"Don't worry, I'm certain Yang will comfort you." Nora teased.

'Clearly you don't know my relationship with Yang.' "I know, its just-" he managed before his brain decided to leave the conversation.

"When you are ready to talk with us, we will be here for you anytime you need it." Pyrrha said after a few moments with a warm smile.

' _Huh. Maybe it's just my anxiety about the trip_.' he thought as Pyrrha got up. He laid back down and put his hands behind his head 'Still doesn't explain the bizarre art gallery though.'

/============================================================================================================/

"So then I found myself surrounded by Ursa." Nora dramatically intoned at their breakfast table.

"Beowolves." Ren corrected.

"What's wrong Jaune, you look troubled." Pyrrha asked.

Jaune grip tightened on his silverware "I'm just frustrated, that's all."

"Why is that Jaune?" his crush casually asked.

"Huh?" he somehow managed, surprised that Weiss Schnee suddenly decided to talk to him during their breakfast.

"She asked you why you're frustrated." His fake girlfriend barked.

"I don't think that's your concern." He spat back.

"You might as well tell us, we're just going to keep asking until you do." Ren calmly spoke.

As much as he hated the idea he gave in once he realized Ren was right "It's mostly because of my pet project with Nora, to put it ridiculously bluntly we know too little about what we're researching and no matter where we look or who we talk to we can't seem to find any relevant information on the subject and it's driving me insane!" He yelled as he slammed his fist into the table, unintentionally implanting his damaged silverware into the furniture and causing everyone else to flinch.

"Basically me, Nora, Russel and no doubt a few other people we have met already have this 'thing' in common with each other called-"

"EVIL SPIRITS!" Nora yelled distracting everyone for a few moments and derailing Jaune's train of thought.

'thanks Nora, you're a big help.' "They are called Stands. Basically it's a special manifestation that is tied to a person's psyche like how a person's aura and semblance is tied to their soul." he resumed once his left ear stopped ringing.

"Oh. Can you show it to us?" Wiess politely asked despite wearing the face of someone debating whether he was crazy or not.

"Not at this time no. I am still learning how to control it." 'Besides I doubt you would be able to truly see it anyway.' he said

"Wouldn't it be better to spend your free period in the training rooms rather than in the library with Nora?" Ruby asked.

"I. Don't think that's a good idea. Given what happened with Russel and all." he nervously said.

"Perhaps Miss Goodwitch can help you, she keeps offering supplementary lessons to everyone." Weiss suggested.

"Or forcing it upon those who fail in her classes." Yang intoned.

A shiver went down his spine at the thought of what 'lessons' Glynda might have in store "I think I'll stick to research for now, don't want anything hindering my duties as team leader."

"You're loss." Yang mocked.

"It's good that you're taking your responsibilities seriously, unlike some people." Wiess said with a pointed glare at Ruby. "How are your preparations for the trip to forever fall coming?"

"We're all set." Nora proudly declared.

"We are still deciding on what to bring with us." Ren corrected.

"But we will be ready by the time we need to leave." Pyrrha finished.

"Ugh. deciding what to bring and what to leave behind is so frustrating." Ruby whined.

"Not really, all we need is single small meal for each of us, some tools to make burrowing into trees and collecting the sap that comes out easier for us and a first aid kit for Cardin." Jaune causally commented earning strange looks from everyone.

"Why would we need any of those things?" Wiess demanded.

"Huh?" he blurted out.

"Nobody ever mentioned anything about collecting tree sap so what makes you think we will be doing that?" Blake asked him.

"Why do we need just the one meal, we have no idea how long we will be there." Yang barked.

"Is Cardin going to get hurt? If so why do we need to waste a perfectly good first aid kit on him?" Nora asked.

"But we-" Jaune started.

"Are you alright Jaune? You're not having some bizarre episode or something?" Ruby interrupted.

"Like what happened when you fought Russel?" Weiss asked with narrowed eyes.

"What? Of course not." ' _at least I don't think so._ ' he said as more chills went down his spine.

"It's just a strange thing to know." Pyrrha mentioned.

"Do you have information the rest of us could benefit from?" Yang asked with a glare.

"No. I mean-"

"Then what makes you think we will be harvesting tree sap or that Cardin will get hurt during the trip?" Yang demanded.

"I, I don't know. Please excuse me." he said excusing himself from the table and bee lining to the cafeteria doors before anyone could stop him.  
' _What the hell was that? Are my bizarre symptoms acting up again?_ ' he thought as the crossed out into the open courtyard. He stopped at one of Beacon's gardens and sat down by a tree hopping to calm himself down before his next class began.

/============================================================================================================/

He signed as he fell backwards onto his bed as the evening sun finished setting. The whole day seemed to be one bizarre event after another, first the ominous dream, then what happened at the breakfast table, only to be followed by another bizarre event after lunch. Close to the end of Dr. Oobleck's class he swore he had heard the professor ask him what advantage the faunus had over their human enemies during the 3rd crusade and when he answered the professor yelled at him for interrupting his class and then acknowledged his answer as the correct one to a question he hadn't yet asked.

Worst still was what happened as a result of his next break when he found himself cornered as Cardin had shown up with his goons, somehow got a hold of his identification card and failed to humiliate him or stick him with a bad nickname that they could laugh at for the rest of their time at beacon.

' _Jaune Jonah Arc? That's your full name?_ ' the leering voice of Dove echoed in his head making him mad.

' _More like John Joker Arc._ ' Sky's mocking voice continued.

' _Come now men, we can all be friends here._ ' Cardin's voice rang out along with the feeling of his arm around Jaune's shoulder in faux friendliness ' _We'll just call you **Jojo** instead, how's that?_'

Just remembering Cardin say it like that made his blood start to boil and want to re-introduce his fist to Cardin's face. He felt entirely justified when he had done it the time even if professor Goodwitch did not think so and now as a result he had to spend the rest of his free time in detention while taking her supplementary lessons until the time of the Forever Fall trip.

"Hard day?" Pyrrha asked as the rest of his team started settling in for the night.

"Yeah you can say that." he replied as he turned to face her.

"It's bizarre to see you like this, normally you are so composed and sure of yourself." she said as she sat down on the edge of her bed.

"It's just been one of those days I guess." he casually responded.

"Do your bad days often feature fist fights with a bully and his team over a nickname?" she asked.

"In my defense they provoked me. It was a nickname given to me by my little sister when we were much younger and hearing him say it the way he did felt like he was not just insulting me but my family as well. Nobody other than my most trusted friends and family gets to call me Jojo." he said.

"Aww that's sweet, do we get to call you Jojo?" she innocently asked.

"Yes. Yes you do." he said after a few moments as he turned back to the ceiling, starting to feel calmer.

"Why doesn't Yang call you that?" Pyrrha asked.

"Things are complicated between us at the moment and I would rather not get into it now." he said, suddenly a lot less calm.

/============================================================================================================/

' _Ugghhh, why?_ ' his mind groaned as his stomach threatened to do another flip. To her credit Pyrrha did try her best to be comforting by whispering soft words of encouragement and rubbing his back gently whenever he was starting to feel particularly bad as they rode with all the first year teams in Beacon in the back of a bullhead.

"Don't worry Jaune, we're almost there." his best friend Ruby quietly said so that only he, Pyrrha and the other 2 members of his team could hear.

He wanted to thank her for the encouragement but was more worried about the possibility of puking on her instead. If he knew his motion sickness would be this bad he would have given Glynda the finger and tried to avoid the trip all together, but nooooo, ' _It is mandatory._ ' she said ' _Part of the curriculum._ ' and while he could understand why it would be needed and appreciated the opportunity to avoid a day's worth of long lectures about Grimm, History and more as well as another trip to Beacon's library hopping to learn more about stands with Nora he wished that the school faculty chose a location closer to Beacon so at least his suffering would be minimized.

' _You held out for the last two hours another minute or so shouldn't make a difference._ ' a voice in the back of his head said.

' _Gee thanks._ ' he answered back while his motion sickness started what had to be a final desperate assault on his system.

"Jaune, we're here." Pyrrha said as the side doors opened and students started stepping out onto the clearing they parked in. As he stepped out and landed on the red leaf covered soil all he wanted to do then kiss the ground, any attempts to do so where interrupted when Glynda conscripted him, Cardin and a few other people he only knew for having a tendency to disrupt the various classes they shared into the distributing a copious amounts of glass jars as well as tools for harvesting tree sap to everyone.

Once the task was complete Glynda began leading everyone deep into the Forever Fall forest once again reminding them of their assignment as provided by Professor Peach while giving a speech about the beauty of the forest itself. Or at least that is what he thought she was saying, somehow her voice seemed muted, drowned out by what sounded like the buzzing of angry rapier wasps.

"Do you hear that?" he asked his partner. He couldn't hear her response, he could see her lips moving but he couldn't seem to hear her voice. The damned buzzing just got in the way only to be interrupted by the sound of an Ursa roaring to his immediate right causing him to inadvertently snap his head in that direction.

"-we will rendezvous back at the Bullhead at 4 o'clock. Any questions?" his teacher concluded.

"Huh?" he blurted out, inadvertently drawing everyone's attention.

"What do we do if we finish early?" Pyrrha covered for him.

"That is up to you, however I expect you to stay near your partners at all times and be back at the bullhead exactly at four o'clock. Split into groups and be extra cautious, while they may not be known for their subtlety the creatures of Grimm can still sneak up on you." Glynda warned confident that question period was over.

"Jaune are you ok?" Pyrrha whispered to him.

"I-. No, something about this forest makes me uncomfortable." em'like how I am hearing things again.'/em went unsaid.

"Will you be alright?" Pyhrra asked.

"I think so, the sooner we get this task done and return to Beacon the better I will be." he stated as he started walking in a direction to the group's right trying to ignore the bizarre feelings the surroundings were giving him.

/============================================================================================================/

"There he is." Cardin said as he and his team crawled to the edge of a small clear hill overlooking the spot where team JNPR and team RWBY had stopped to eat their lunch several hours after they first entered the forest.

"Remind me again why you think this plan will work?" Dove asked.

"Its simple really." Cardin began as he and his team began crawling back to their makeshift camp "Jaune is a combatant, he has a violent personality and responds to just about everything that confronts him with an abundance of unchecked aggression. We only need to look at how he ended his fight with Russel to confirm this."

"No way he would have won that match otherwise." Russel bitterly intoned as he curled up comfortably at their campsite composing of little more than a small dust fueled hot plate, several empty and discarded cans of canned food, a box full of rapier wasps and a container with five jars of tree sap all situated within a small clearing.

"Exactly and our attempts to get even have been less than successful." Sky said as he rubbed the remains of a blackened eye.

"Heh, that is because we were too forceful and foreword that time." Cardin said as he struck a power pose while sitting.

He sat with the soles of his feet touching each other while the entire surface of the outer portion of his upper and lower legs lay on the red-leaved covered soil without issue. He rested his hands on his inner thighs and left his elbows to hang above his knees. As he leaned slightly foreword his armored form seemed to consume all the space around him, the cocky smile only serving to reinforce the point.

"Our mistake was that we tried to confront him directly, we were idiots to believe the four of us alone could intimidate him into submission, so instead we will try a different approach." Cardin said as he held up a jar of sap.

"Hey we need those if we are to pass professor Peach's ridiculous assignment." Dove barked.

"Wrong, if you were actually paying attention to what Goodwitch said you would know we only need one for each of us. If you take a look at our container you will see their are four jars there, one for each of us. And if you count the one I am currently holding you don't need a Beacon level education to figure out that we are still in the safe zone." he said as he pointed to it.

"Yeah and the rapier wasps you had me carry all the way out here are attracted to the stuff, you said so yourself but what happens if you fail to hit him from here?" Russel asked.

"It won't matter as long as some sap gets within a close enough distance the wasps will do the rest. Like Jaune they are highly aggressive when provoked and being trapped in a box all day has no doubt fouled their mood so get yourselves to a good distance where you will be safe, I'll handle the rest from here." he said as he stood up. He watched with a wary eye as his team moved away, judging where they needed to be in case something went catastrophically wrong with their plan then what angle and direction to throw the jar at and with how much strength to ensure that it came at lest within five feet of Jaune. He smirked as he gave it a light toss before easily catching it again.

"Just like playing ball back at home." he whispered to himself before pulling his arm back "Jaune! Its payback for everything you have done to us!" Cardin yelled with an intense expression as he started swinging his arm, only to be interrupted by a giant paw seemingly appearing out of nowhere and slamming into his side. With a pained yell he spun through the air loosing his grip on the Jar and landing hard. He spat out some leaves as he turned to face his adversary as it stepped on and crushed the box of rapier wasps with another giant paw.

/============================================================================================================/

"Great. What are we going to do with all the extra food we brought?" Yang asked as the group finished their lunches.

"To be fair I did expect us to be here a lot longer, like the rest of the day longer." Ruby countered.

"Nothing wrong with being prepared." Weiss commented.

"Jaune are you ok?" Pyrrha asked.

"Huh, uh yeah, I just got this bizarre feeling that's all." ' _like something is supposed to have happened now._ ' Jaune replied.

"What's up?" Nora casually asked.

"Well-" Jaune started before a roar interrupted him.

"What was that?" Nora half yelled as everyone jumped to their feet.

"URSA!" A voice yelled.

Drawing his sword and extending his shield he saw Russel, running for his life screaming "URSA!" over and over while a terrified Dove and wounded Sky did their best to keep pace with him.

"What happened?" Yang demanded as she grabbed and stopped Russel.

"Their is a giant Ursa back there!" he said as he pointed in the direction he had come running from "Cardin's getting clobbered by it."

"Ursa?" Jaune absently said as he stared in that direction.

"We have to save Cardin." Ruby said as Russell scurried out of Yang's grip.

"What we need to do is get professor Goodwith. The best ways is if all of us spread out and find her." Wiess barked.

"And while we are doing that Cardin might die." Ruby barked back.

"Is that really a bad thing?" Blake started. "He's a racist bully, we see him everyday harassing students he thinks are weaker than him, especially faunus."

"No. I mean yes! It's our duty to help those in need even if they are not deserving of it." Ruby said before she dashed away "And nothing will stop me!"

"Damn it Ruby." Jaune cursed "Nora, come with me, everyone else go find Goodwitch, we'll handle this." he ordered as he ran after Ruby.

/============================================================================================================/

As he passed over the hill he froze as he saw the Ursa standing over what was no doubts the remains of their camp and equipment. True to Russel's word the beast was indeed huge, at least as wide as he was tall but twice his height before he took the spikes that protruded from its back into consideration. It loomed over a downed Cardin who raised his two handed mace in one last attempt to block its next strike only for a single sideways swipe to send the heavy mace twirling through the air and deep into the trunk of one of the trees.

For a brief moment he swore he saw a familiar frame on the edges of his vision as the Ursa turned to face him with a snarl. He swayed slightly as the reality he was facing and the memory of his distant dream seemed to clash. Sensing his weakness the monster gave Cardin's body a strong kick propelling the teen into and knocking over Jaune, the full force of the impact knocked Jaune's senses back into reality as his mind finally grasped the situation he was in. With a quick motion he pushed Cardin's groaning form off him and willed himself to his feet despite the protest from his internal organs.

With another ear piercing bellow the Ursa charged at him while Nora's grenades exploded around it, when it reached him it attacked in an ever so predictable manner. It extended it's giant arm outward for a wide and certainly not subtle strike, in response Jaune willed time to slow to what he believed was half it's normal pace while he moved to strike it down, were things moving at normal speed the Ursa would have struck him before his sword connected his only saving grace being that with time moving at half speed he was already in it's guard before the blow could connect. With a battle cry that sounded more like a yelp in actuality he swung his sword upwards and decapitated the Ursa.

' _Now for my awesome pose._ ' he thought as he collapsed his shield, moved to sheath his sword and turned to face his friends with a confident smile that subtly said ' _I am awesome._ '

"Jaune! Look out!" Ruby cried.

"Huh?" was all he managed before instinct forced him to turn around and put his arms in a standard boxer's block.

The arms of his stand materialized as he finished turning just in time to block a backswing from the Ursa, the force of the blow sent him crashing into the trees at the edge of the clearing before landing hard on the ground. Forcing himself to look up he saw the beast turn to look at him, its head still on its shoulders.

' _How?_ ' Jaune could only think as he tired to force himself to his feet. He was sure he decapitated the monster, he felt his sword connect, he felt the Ursa's flesh resist the blade and the sudden added momentum when it tore through.

' _That's not right._ ' a part of his brain commented as the monster absorbed a direct hit from Nora's hammer and the resulting explosion without appearing to sustain any real damage.

' _Not now!_ ' he mentally barked back as he charged the beast. Willing everything to slow down to a quarter speed he rushed in and with as much force as he could muster slashed at the monster. He couldn't help but smile in satisfaction as his blade cut deep into the monster's shoulder stopping when he reached its mid section. With a pained roar the monster swung again, the impact of it's bizarrely large paw bounced off his shield but transferred enough force to send him spiraling through the air until he crashed into Nora a moderate distance away from it.

"That thing is not normal." Ruby cried out as to everyone's horror the horrendous, otherwise fatal wound he left on the monster began to mend itself until the only sign any damage had been done was the sword stuck in it's mid section.

' _How? No Grimm can survive a hit like that, unless-_ ' "NORA IT'S A STAND! IT'S AN ENEMY STAND!" Jaune yelled as he turned to her.

"A what?" Nora asked genuinely confused.

He bit back a growl before gritting out "That 'thing' we have in common. One of those must be powering that monster."

She gasped "What? How? From what you told me evil spirits can only affect humans and faunus. How is one possessing that Ursa!?"

"We can figure that out later, right now we must find a way to defeat it"

"How? That Ursa seems immune to physical damage and my electricity is not doing much to it."

"Thier must be a-." he started "Nora can you increase the current of your electricity?" he finished with a confident smile.

"I don't know, I-" she started before an expression of enlightenment crossed her face "Can you distract that thing for exactly 10 seconds?"

"Consider it done." He said as he charged at the Ursa.

Ducking as it swiped at him and Ruby, with a grace befitting a dancer he reached outwards and grabbed his sword still embedded in the monster's mid section. "MUDA!" he yelled as he mustered as much strength as his arm could manage and tore it through the monster's body to freedom only for the wound to start mending itself.

"Let's see how fast you can regenerate from this!" Jaune yelled as he focused his will into forcing time to slow as much as it could.

"MUDA!" he yelled with a savage swing cutting a deep gauge into it's chest. "MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! /spanMUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA! MUDA!" he yelled as he continued as he slashed at it intending to do as much damage as he could before allowing time to resume it's normal pace. As expected the creature stumbled backwards before its odd colored wounds started to close on themselves.

' _So it takes 5 seconds to heal grievous wounds like that_.' he thought as Ruby renewed her assault.

"That thing is invincible." Cardin yelled as he finally managed to climb to his feet "Bullets, blades, brute force. Nothing works, it either shrugs it all off or gets back up after a few seconds."

"Their must be something we can do." Ruby yelled as she unloaded her weapon into it.

"That thing can regenerate quickly, it won't matter what you do to it, until Goodwitch comes and help us all we can do is survive." Cardin barked.

"Wrong, all we need to do is hold out until Nora finishes preparing whatever she is going to use to destroy this thing." Jaune replied.

"What makes you so sure she can beat it when you, my team and Ruby with all our weapons could not!?" Cardin yelled.

"I trust her, that is reason enough." He replied as the Ursa turned to face him.

"And how long will that take?" Cardin asked.

"Less than ten seconds. If we can deal a substantial amount of damage to the Ursa's body then it will spend more time regenerating than fighting us." He said before the Ursa started charging at him again.

This time it swung its giant paw overhead intending to crush him flat into the ground, ' _how strange._ ' he thought as he deployed his shield, absorbing some of the impact and forcing the rest to fall to his side at the risk of destroying his shoulder or forearm before retaliating by slicing his blade through it's head from chin to crown, his stand materializing just long enough to help him complete the task before bringing the blade down upon the beast's paw slashing through it and unintentionally embedding his sword into the ground.

"I got this!" Ruby screamed as she blurred next to him driving the blades of Crescent Rose through it's other paw and pinning it to the ground.

"Hmm, now we wait." He said as he elbowed the beast's mask before turning around and walking away calmly.

"Uh Jaune? You might want to look at this!" Ruby called out as she backed away from the beast.

"Huh?" Jaune remarked as he looked over his shoulders.

With an almost quiet sound, not something he would expect from flesh ripping from steel, it tore it's paws tore free from their binds and slowly began mending while it's broken and partially crushed face contorted into a snarl which almost resembled the face of a angry person, likely that of the person controlling the stand keeping the Ursa alive.

"I'm impressed by your determination." He said, mostly to the opposing stand user while not entirely sure if he or she could hear him through the Ursa "But I am afraid it's too late for you. After all-" he held up his hand to his forehead, his thumb and middle finger tucked around the silver chain of his silver pocket watch, the lid open for the beast to see the interior clock "-it's been already been ten seconds."

The beast seemed to gasp in genuine surprise as it turned to see Nora Valkirie standing with what could best be described as a lightning storm between her palms "Jaune Move!" she yelled before she clasped her hands together and formed a triangle with her fingers.

Jaune barely had time to dodge as arcs of electricity flew from Nora's hands into the beast.

"While electricity itself doesn't have a temperature it can superheat the air around it to at least five thousand degrees Fahrenheit or more based on its current and other factors, easily more than enough to light most things on fire." she dramatically intoned as the monster's fur started erupting into small fires.

"That's right, even if it can regenerate quickly it will just continuously burn until either it dies or puts the fires out which will give us an advantage either way." Ruby said as she grasped the situation as it unfolded before her.

"Wait something isn't right here." Jaune said as the monster started flailing it's arms in one last defiant act before collapsing. To his surprise and that of everyone watching the Ursa didn't dissipate into thin air like all Grimm do but instead collapsed into a pile of orange sludge.

"It's clay." Ruby said as she cautiously grabbed some and ran it through her fingers.

"Just clay." Jaune confirmed after confirming nothing was going to jump out and try to bite his face off.

"I don't feel so good." Nora intoned before fainting.

"We need to get Miss Goodwitch. She needs to know about this." Jaune remarked as he went to check on Nora.

"Yeah we should." Ruby stated.

/============================================================================================================/

After the teams split-up and went in different directions hopping to find or at least come in contact with Glynda Goodwitch quicker Blake looked for anything out of place that might hopefully lead her to her professor, within minutes she found something strange. It was a pink squirrel with a white tail more art than mammal than she would have liked with a strange familiarity to it, when it saw her looking it darted from the tree deeper into the forest. Blake followed after it, a strange curiosity blossoming in her head. If anyone else was here with her they would likely question her sanity or at least question if she somehow ingested a hallucegenic substance while they were here.

She stopped as the bizarre squirrel ran up and into a tree's hollow a moderate distance away almost prompting her to come closer with its presence. She gulped and reached for it, unless she was sorely mistaken this was probably not a complex trap meant to lure her to her death. She gasped as a hand emerged from the tree to grip her by the wrist she extended while another hand reaching around to hold her by the small of the back as a face and body emerged from the tree.

He had styled his hair in dread-locks, with each tightly wound lock of hair were several yellow, almost golden circular clips that to the untrained eye seemed to resemble the suction cups of an octopus or other marine based cephalopod. His lightly tanned skin had trace amounts of paint small enough to go unnoticed at any distance save an intimate one. His black painted lips only inches from hers while his brown shirt and stained artist apron pressed against her. With a smile he released her as the tree he came from transformed into a chair with a paint stand holding a half-finished canvas on it.

"Hello Blake." he said, dangling a paint brush from his finger.

"Damn it. What is wrong with you?" She barked back.

"What are you not happy to see me again?" the bizarre artist commented.

"You know I hate it when you do things like that _Rokyo_!" she yelled at him.

He smirked at her as if it were some in-joke the two shared. She couldn't help but smile back, _Rokyo Inkster_ was perhaps one of the few people she could truly call a good friend. An artist by trade he sought to follow in the footsteps of the legendary artists before him, believing that through art he could help bridge the gap between humans and faunus.

"That is why you love me." he joked, licking the paint brush and staining it with the natural ink he seemed to secrete from his saliva glands.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Blake asked.

"A 'favour' for a someone going by the name coffee, spelled C,F,V,Y. And while I was waiting for my clay Ursa to strike I decided to start painting the beautiful setting. Its not often we get see nature so untouched like this." he said as he continued drawing the outline of several trees on his canvas.

"Clay Ursa?" She questioned.

"Imagine my surprise when I see you here as well." he said pointing his brush at her, ignoring her completely. "Last time I heard from you was when you left Menagerie to join the fang, without even sending me a goodbye letter in the mail."

She winced at that "Well I left them, now I am a student at Beacon."

"I see that, by the way how is Beacon. I applied last year but did not get in. If I knew you were their I would have applied again this year, we might have even ended up on the same team." he smiled.

"Things are 'complicated' right now and it's probably best you didn't get in." Blake said.

Frowning but understanding the subtle message he reached into his pocket and produced a business card "I am currently living in Vale, if you need anything call me and if I am able to I shall help you."

With a careful hand she took the card and smiled "I will, but right now I must go." she said before turning to leave.

"Don't forget to write this time." she heard him call out.

A smile unintentionally crossed her lips, for what felt like the first time in a long time she relaxed. Should Jaune or his issues become problematic for her in the future she had an ally who could no doubt help her out. Ruby and the rest were good to her of that thier was no question, but they were also friends with Jaune, close friends. Meaning that if something were to happen to her they may never suspect him of anything, even if they did he could use his bizarre charm to dissuade any and all suspicion. She looked down at the card as she walked through the woods, considering if perhaps an outside source can help shed some light on the mystery surrounding Jaune.

/============================================================================================================/

 **Stand name: Electronic**  
 **Destructive power; B**  
 **Speed; A**  
 **Range; B/**  
 **Durability/staying; B**  
 **Precision; C**  
 **Development potential/Learning; C**  
 **User: Nora Valkyrie**  
 **Abilities: By manipulating the energy waves in her body Electronic can greatly enhance Nora's speed, strength and durability by absorbing electricity. Alternately it can also weaken her by temporarily transforming any metallic weapon into a rail gun and paralyzing enemies or rapidly discharging it from her body.**

/============================================================================================================/

* * *

 **Special thanks to ghost83 for the OC**


End file.
